la lettre june 2015

LA LETTRE JUNE 2015 | 1

JUNE 2015french american international school | international high school | lycée international franco-américain

La Lettre

Learning by Design

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lycée international franco-américain

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ABOVE: Kindergartner Noah Loffer and his dad Franklin at Family Day at the Maternelle, December 18, 2014

COVER: Lower School Astronomy Night, April 22, 2015

CONTENTS © 2015 | RICK GYDESEN, EDITOR

FRENCH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLINTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLLYCÉE INTERNATIONAL FRANCO-AMÉRICAIN

La Lettre

150 Oak Street San Francisco, Ca 94102(415) 558-2000 www.frenchamericansf.org

4 HEAD OF SCHOOL

7 NEW LEADERSHIP

8 BOARD’S EYE VIEW

12 IN MEMORIAM: SEÁNA CANAVAN

14 MATERNELLE DESIGN: A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE

18 COMMUNITY

20 VOLUNTEER PROFILES

22 MIDDLE SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

24 VERTICAL WRITING PROJECT

26 INTERNSHIPS

30 COLLEGE BOUND: CLASS OF 2015

34 ALUMNI PROFILE

36 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

44 DESIGN THINKING60 SERVICE LEARNING: LAOS 2015

64 GLOBAL TRAVEL 2015

68 GLOBAL CITIZENS

72 SOCIAL JUSTICE

76 VISUAL ARTS

80 PERFORMING ARTS

86 ATHLETICS: YEAR-IN-REVIEW

92 ALUMNI ATHLETES

IN THIS ISSUE


4 | LA LETTRE JUNE 2015

Recently at the Design Faire, a school-wide celebration of design in which lower, middle, and high school students ex-hibited their creations, a lively 4th-grader grabbed

my hand and said, “Melinda, come see. I made a house—and we made a world!” She pulled me to a table piled high with miniature dwellings designed by her classmates and, as students, parents, and teachers milled around us, explained that she and her friends had explored the best ways to live by creating models out of cardboard and paper. The result, a precarious stack of shoebox-shaped homes, topped by an isosce-les triangle of an apartment building, was indeed a world, reflecting 4th grade dreams of how members of a community might live together.

When we think about projects at school, we often think of build-ings, but seldom reflect on design. As Trustee Josh Nossiter points out in his column for this issue of La Lettre, the progress of an educational institution is often charted around its building projects. This year, for example, we realized important goals for both our campuses. With the construction of the Maternelle at 1155 Page Street, we have provided our youngest students with spaces built for them and their needs: bright classrooms that open onto shared spaces for indoor and outdoor learning and play. In the rooms the little ones left at 150 Oak, we have created new learning environments for our older students: a science lab and tinker space for lower school-ers, a middle and high school design lab, and a flexible community space that has already served as the site

of several family STEM nights and our Design Faire. These new spaces provide our students with new educational opportunities to make, experiment, and create. They further our goal of developing strong pro-grams in the STEM (science, technol-ogy, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, and they involve a kind of thinking that we seek not just to impart to students but also to em-brace as a school: design thinking.

Grounded equally in the principles of empathy and experimentation, design thinking is at once a kind of critical thinking and a collaborative undertaking—a cross-disciplinary approach to solving problems in order to improve the experience of individuals and communities. In the design and tinker labs, our students work in the space between theory and practice as they identify a question or problem, reflect on what they know about it, investigate what they do not, and experiment with solutions. At the Design Faire,

we saw the products of this process as students from all three sections of the school presented projects of astonishing creativity: a bookmark that shed light on the printed page for the reader, a device that trans-formed a smartphone into a viewer for virtual worlds, and a model of an imaginary village that suggested new ways of living in a community, to name just a few.

Design thinking encourages students to synthesize what they learn across disciplines and chal-lenges educators to make connec-tions between parts of our program. Inherently interdisciplinary, design thinking allows us to connect current trends in STEM education with the arts and the humanities, which have been at the core of our curriculum for decades. It calls for modern pedagogies that foster mak-ing and doing, while it draws on enduring, indispensable skills like research and critical analysis. This way of thinking has informed our work this year as we have created new spaces and curricula, and it is shaping our thinking about pro-grams and projects for next year. This summer, high school teachers will collaborate in our first blended learning institute, creating online and in-class units of study in several disciplines and preparing to share the blended model with their col-leagues. Next fall, all freshmen will take a new Research and Design course, an interdisciplinary seminar that will teach our new high school students literacy skills as they tackle real problems together.

Design thinking has informed the work of my first year here at school as well, as I have interviewed faculty, staff, students and parents

Learning by Design

head of school

missionGuided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the French American International School offers programs of study in French and English to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to communicate across cultures is of paramount importance.

Guidé par des principes de rigueur académique et de diversité, le Lycée International Franco-Américain propose des programmes en français et en anglais, pour assurer la réussite de ses diplômés dans un monde dans lequel la pensée critique et la communication interculturelle seront déterminantes.

about their experience of our school, attended our many events, and visited classrooms. My aim has been to construct my understanding of our school through deliberate, collabora-tive inquiry with all our constituent groups. Next year, we will build on that understanding as we engage in a discussion of our shared values, or principles, a process designed to help us think collectively about our community—in other words, to design the kind of community we want to be.

In our independent, international school, we have the freedom to “make a world,” as my 4th-grade guide said—to design not just the spaces in which students study but also the programs they pursue and the community in which our faculty and families collaborate. We experi-ence the world across backgrounds, disciplines, languages, and conti-nents—while we prepare our stu-dents to shape it. And that begins... with learning by design.

MELINDA BIHN, Ed.D.HEAD OF SCHOOL | PROVISEUR

« Learning By Design » Ou l’Apprentissage par la Conception Réfléchie

Récemment lors de notre Foire au design (Design Faire), qui est l’occasion, pour nos élèves de l’école primaire, du collège et du lycée, de présenter leurs créations dans ce domaine, une élève de CM1 pleine d’enthousiasme m’a pris la main et m’a dit : « Melinda, viens voir. J’ai fait une maison, et nous avons fait un monde ! »

“We experience the world while we prepare our students to shape it. And that begins with learning by design.”


Elle m’a tirée vers une table sur laquelle étaient empilées des maisons miniatures conçues par ses camarades de classe. Pendant que élèves, parents et enseignants se regroupaient autour de nous, elle m’a expliqué qu’ils avaient exploré les meilleurs modes de vie par la création de maquettes de carton et de papier. Le résultat, une pile précaire de maisons en forme de boîtes à chaussures, surmontée d’un triangle isocèle représentant un immeuble d’appartements, était bien un monde, le fruit de l’imagination d’élèves de CM1 et de leurs rêves de vie en communauté.

Lorsque nous réfléchissons aux projets de l’établissement, nous pensons souvent aux locaux, mais rarement aux concepts. Comme le souligne Josh Nossiter, membre du Conseil de gestion, dans son article de ce numéro de La Lettre, les progrès d’une institution d’enseignement sont souvent mesurés à ses projets immobiliers.

Cette année, par exemple, nous avons réalisé des objectifs importants pour nos deux campus. Avec la construction de la Maternelle au 1155 Page Street, nous avons mis à la disposition de nos élèves les plus jeunes des espaces construits pour eux et adaptés à leurs besoins : des salles de classe baignées de lumière s’ouvrent sur des espaces communs pour l’apprentissage et le jeu à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur. Dans les salles libérées par les petits sur le campus principal, nous avons créé de nouveaux environnements d’apprentissage pour nos élèves plus âgés : un laboratoire de science et un espace d’exploration et de bricolage pour les élèves des cycles élémentaires, un laboratoire de


“I understand the importance of having a great leader at any institution, as that catalyzes the achievement of any organization’s mission. When Melinda walked in the door, I felt like we landed with the person that has the smarts and experience and passion and drive to take this school to the next level, to realize its mission.”amy shenkan board of trustees

design pour le collège et le lycée, et un espace communautaire polyvalent qui a déjà accueilli plusieurs soirées STIM à l’intention des familles et notre Foire au design.

Ces nouveaux espaces permettront à nos élèves de bénéficier de nou-velles opportunités d’apprentissage, de fabrication, d’expérimentation et de création. Ils s’inscrivent dans le cadre de notre objectif de solides programmes dans les disciplines STIM (sciences, technologie, ingén-ierie et mathématiques), et font intervenir le type de réflexion que nous n’entendons pas seulement en-seigner à nos élèves mais également adopter en tant qu’établissement : la réflexion conceptuelle ou « design thinking ».

La réflexion conceptuelle, con-ception réfléchie ou pensée créative, repose à parts égales sur des princi-pes d’empathie et d’expérimentation, et fait appel à la réflexion critique et la collaboration. Il s’agit d’une approche interdisciplinaire de la résolution de problèmes au service de l’enrichissement, tant pour l’individu que pour le groupe. Dans les laboratoires d’exploration et de design, nos élèves découvrent aussi bien la théorie et la pratique pour être capable d’identifier une ques-tion ou une problématique. Ainsi réfléchissent-ils à ce qu’ils savent à ce sujet, étudient ce qu’ils ne savent pas, et testent différentes solutions.

La Foire au design nous a permis de découvrir les fruits de ce processus dans le cadre de projets incroyablement créatifs présentés par les trois niveaux de l’établissement : un marque-page qui éclaire la page du lecteur, un appareil qui transforme un smartphone en

visionneur de mondes virtuels, et un modèle de village imaginaire qui propose de nouvelles modalités de vie en communauté, pour n’en nommer que quelques-uns.

Le « design thinking » encourage les élèves à faire la synthèse de ce qu’ils apprennent dans toutes les disciplines, et les éducateurs à effectuer la liaison entre les différents éléments de notre programme. Fondamentalement interdisciplinaire, le « design thinking » nous permet de relier les différentes tendances de l’enseignement des STIM avec les arts, les lettres et les sciences humaines qui sont au cœur de notre programme depuis des années. Il fait appel à des pédagogies modernes qui encouragent la mise en pratique et les réalisations concrètes, en s’appuyant sur des compétences durables et indispensables telles que la recherche et l’analyse critique. C’est cette approche qui a guidé notre travail cette année lorsque nous avons aménagé de nouveaux espaces et mis en place de nouveaux programmes, et c’est également l’inspiration de nos programmes et nos projets pour l’année prochaine.

Cet été, les enseignants du lycée collaboreront dans le cadre de notre premier institut d’enseignement intégré. Ils concevront des unités d’enseignement en ligne et en classe dans plusieurs disciplines, avant de présenter le modèle de l’enseignement intégré à leurs collègues. L’année prochaine, tous les élèves des classes de troisième suivront un nouveau cours de Recherche et conception, un séminaire interdisciplinaire qui permettra à nos nouveaux lycéens

d’acquérir des compétences et connaissances dans le cadre de la résolution collective de problèmes réels.

La réflexion conceptuelle a également guidé mes premiers pas au sein de l’établissement, puisque je me suis entretenue avec les enseignants, les membres du personnel administratif, les élèves et les parents, en ce qui concerne leur expérience dans notre établissement. J’ai également assisté à de nombreux événements, et rendu visite à de nombreuses classes. Mon objectif était de mieux comprendre notre établissement au moyen d’une étude délibérée et collaborative des groupes qui le composent. L’année prochaine, nous nous appuierons sur cette compréhension pour prendre part à une discussion sur les valeurs que nous partageons, nos principes, un processus qui vise à nous aider à réfléchir collectivement à notre communauté ; en d’autres termes, à concevoir le type de communauté dans laquelle nous voulons travailler ensemble.

Dans notre établissement international indépendant, nous sommes libres de « faire un monde » comme le dit mon guide de CM1, de concevoir non seulement les espaces dans lesquels étudient les élèves, mais également les programmes d’enseignement et la communauté dans laquelle nos enseignants et familles collaborent. Nous faisons l’expérience du monde, par le biais de différents contextes, de différentes disciplines, différentes langues et différents continents, tout en préparant nos élèves à le façonner. Et tout cela commence... par l’apprentissage par la conception réfléchie.

new leadership

Jihad MirzaDIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT

Jihad Mirza joins French American and Interna-tional as our new Direc-tor of Advancement in July 2015. A native of Lebanon, Jihad main-tains dual citizenship in the U.S. and Leba-non. His career spans more than 20 years in independent school education on the West and East coasts, where he has been a teacher,

director of technology, consultant, and director of devel-opment and advancement.

Fluent in French and Arabic, Jihad possesses a wealth of knowledge and expertise in global studies programs and a deep understanding of cultural heritages. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History, graduat-ing magna cum laude from State University of New York (SUNY) where he was awarded the Humanities Prize for his thesis: Collapse of the Lebanese State 1975. He con-tinued his graduate coursework in history at Columbia University Teacher’s College in New York. The consum-mate scholar, he has pursued continuing education courses at SUNY and Stanford Universities.

Jihad was raised in an environment that was steeped in the French culture, having been educated by the French Jesuits in Beirut, Lebanon, for twelve years. He spent many years traveling between Lebanon, Europe, West Africa, and other parts of the world.

“I am passionate about helping to create an environ-ment that engages students and families in global education,” explained Jihad. “The aspirations for French American and International appeal to everything I have worked toward, including development of relationships with key constituencies to cultivate a shared vision through their involvement and philanthropic commitments.”

Jihad previously led the Advancement programs at Branson Academy in Marin and Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco. He has also served as a Board member and Chair of the Development Committee at the Caedmon School in New York City, and the Tuxedo Park School outside Manhattan.

Fabrice UrrizalquiMIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

Fabrice Urrizalqui has accepted the position of Middle School Prin-cipal effective August 2015. A veteran French American teacher, Fabrice has served for several years as our Up-per Elementary Peda-gogical Coordinator, Lower School Service Learning Coordina-tor, and Lower School Admissions Liaison,

and he is known and respected by families and faculty throughout the school.

Fabrice brings to this new role a deep knowledge of our school, of French and American curricula, and of early adolescent development that will serve us well as we focus on the student experience in the middle years. Members of the student, faculty and parent search committees were struck by his combination of profes-sionalism and personal care for students, as well as his commitment to teacher collaboration in the service of student learning.

Fabrice holds a Diplôme de Professeur des Ecoles, both a Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies and a Master’s degree in Political Science, as well as administrative certification from the Principals’ Training Center. He served as a Lower School teacher in France and as the Director of the Alliance Française in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, before coming to French American in 2004, and he is fluent in French, English and Spanish.

The search process involved a notably strong group of candidates from the U.S. and abroad, and involved members of our school’s student and parent com-munities, faculty and staff, and leadership team. We extend our gratitude to all those who participated, and are grateful for their time, insight, and expertise as we sought to fill this important leadership position.

We also want to thank Antoine Delaitre, our interim Principal, who has led the Middle School so ably this year, as he leaves us to take up his new position as High School Principal at the United Nations International School in New York.


BOARD’S EYE VIEWby josh nossiter

conseil de gestion board of trustees

2014–2015Pauline Carmona

Consul Général de France Honorary Chair

Gerard (Tex) Schenkkan Chair

Adam Cioth, Chair EmeritusRonald Kahn, Vice Chair

Leigh Sata, Vice ChairVernon Goins, SecretaryJosh Nossiter, Treasurer

Stephane Ré Attaché Culturel

Jean Paul BalajadiaChristian Bonomo Clydene Bultman

John CateOrpheus S.L. Crutchfield

Stéphane de BordStephan Forget Judith Glickman

Vernon GoinsDiane Jones-Lowrey

Andrea KennedyPaul Loeffler

David LowPatrice MaheoUsha Rajagopal

Leigh SataAmy Shenkan

Young ShinDebbie Zachareas

CONSEIL HONORAIRE ADVISORY COUNCIL

Martin Quinn, ChairJudithe Bizot

Thomas E. HornREPRÉSENTANTS DES PARENTS D’ÉLÈVES

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Victoria ErvilleLower School/Primaire

David Peters and Carol SalvagioneMiddle School/Collège

Dan FeldmanHigh School/Lycée

It’s your Board. What is it up to?

The question is a hardy annual: just what does the Board of Trustees do? The topic has been tackled in this space be-fore, but a combination of natural turnover in

our families and authorial ineptitude leaves some (or at least one, having been asked recently) still seeking answers. To which I say, seek on, because instead of answering that question let’s talk instead about what the Board has done.

At the May meeting of the board of trustees, we feted chair emeritus Adam Cioth, who retires from the board this year. Adam in turn expressed his gratitude for the mentorship of his predecessor Alan Basbaum. Between them, current chair Tex Schenkkan, Alan, and Adam represent more than a quarter century of board leadership. What have we accomplished in their time?

Securing the PresentMy eldest entered the French

American Maternelle at the end of the eighties. In that era the school had 400 or so students, with a tiny high school in a leaky basement, a middle school occupying mo-bile homes in the parking lot, on a shabby if cozy campus leased from

UC at Buchanan and Waller. When UC ended our lease to reclaim the space, the school faced homeless-ness in one of the world’s toughest real estate markets. Under Alan’s leadership, with head of school Jane Camblin and key members of the community, we forged an alliance with Chinese American International School, convinced the city of San Francisco to back a municipal bond issuance, secured major investors like American Express, and acquired the old Caltrans building at 150 Oak as our new home. We built a gym, and turned derelict offices into classrooms, labs, assembly spaces, a theater, and art studios. We also set the stage for a transformation that sees us today not only securely housed but nearly three times our former size.

Although our physical founda-tions were now solid, financially the school was on shakier ground. With high expenses, a negligible endow-ment, and a slightly haphazard system of financial controls, though held in the highest esteem academi-cally, French American was not our auditor’s favorite client. First as trea-surer and then as Alan’s successor, Adam Cioth made financial security a priority of the board. We built reserves, increased the endowment,

board of trustees


refinanced our bond debt, and helped CFO Aaron Levine impose an efficient regime of financial controls. The school today is in excellent financial health, and our auditor’s annual management letter has been, at least from the board treasurer’s point of view, a positive pleasure to read these past half-dozen years.

Building The FutureWith the school on firm foot-

ing academically and financially, the board made its next priority improving our physical plant. On Adam’s watch we acquired the Dennis Gallagher Arts Pavilion at 66 Page Street, an instant hit with students, faculty, and parents. We also made significant improve-ments to 150 Oak Street.

Facilities remained a priority when Tex Schenkkan succeeded Adam, and under his leadership the board has been extremely busy. We continued to improve 150 Oak, opened our splendid new Early Childhood Center, and acquired nearby properties on Fell and Oak Streets that remain to be developed into exciting new ad-ditions to our growing urban cam-pus. While a great deal has been done to create facilities equal in excellence to our students and staff, in the board’s view we’ve only just begun.

Our Other JobThe board consists exclusively

of unpaid volunteers and is made up of current and former parents and education professionals who share a love for French American. We lost our only perk, permis-sion to park in the school lot after hours, two years ago. We have two principal remits: securing the pres-ent and future of the school, and recruiting and retaining the best possible head of school. Over the past quarter-century we’ve worked hard to achieve the former, and

though the work will never cease, we do take pride in an institution that has never been stronger and more successful.

Our accomplishments would not have been possible without vision-ary former head Jane Camblin. Her departure for New York left a void very difficult to fill. When Jane announced her opportunity to run the United Nations Interna-tional School, the board wasted no time. Tex established board search committees for both an interim and a permanent head. The board also supported Jane’s appointment of Richard Ulffers to assistant head of school as a needed steady hand in a time of transition. A long and thorough search led us to Melinda Bihn. Our new head, in her brief time at French American, has not only proven an eminently worthy successor to Jane, but also holds the promise of an even brighter future for the school. Melinda earned the board’s enduring grati-tude in very short order simply by making us look good in hiring her.

Perhaps this account of some of the things the board has done over the past three decades helps answer the question about just what it is that we do. But the query is sure to come up again, and someday soon my successor as the Board’s Eye View columnist will have a new list of accomplish-ments by way of an answer. And while we’re on succession, my tenure as finance committee chair and treasurer ends this year, when I am to be very ably replaced by Stéphane de Bord. My two long tours of duty in the role have been made both successful and enjoy-able by the talent, dedication, and friendship of CFO/COO Aaron Levine, whose titles don’t begin to describe all he does for our school. Thanks, Aaron.

Correspondence is welcome: [email protected]

C’est votre conseil de gestion. Que fait-il donc ?

C’est une question qui ne manque pas d’être posée chaque année : que fait le Conseil de gestion au juste ? C’est un sujet qui a déjà fait l’objet d’une chronique dans cet espace, mais l’association de la rotation naturelle de nos familles et de l’incompétence de l’auteur laisse encore des questions sans réponse (ou au moins celles d’une personne, puisqu’elle me les a posées récemment). Cette question restera toutefois pour le moment en suspens, car je préfère parler ici de ce que le Conseil de gestion a fait.

Lors de la réunion du mois de mai du Conseil de gestion, nous avons rendu hommage à notre Président d’honneur, Adam Cioth, qui quitte le conseil cette année. Adam a à son tour exprimé toute sa gratitude pour son prédécesseur et mentor, Alan Basbaum. A eux trois, le Président actuel, Tex Schenkkan, Alan, et Adam représentent plus d’un quart de siècle de bons et loyaux services au conseil. Qu’ont-ils accompli pendant leurs mandats ?

Un présent solideMon fils aîné est entré à la

maternelle du Lycée International Franco-Américain à la fin des années quatre-vingt. L’établissement comptait alors environ 400 élèves, avec un petit lycée dans un sous-sol humide, un collège installé dans des classes préfabriquées sur le parking, dans un campus vieillot mais confortable loué à UC à l’intersection de Buchanan et Waller. Lorsque UC a mis fin à notre bail pour reprendre possession de cet espace, l’établissement s’est trouvé sans abri dans un des marchés immobiliers les plus difficiles du monde. Sous la direction d’Alan, avec la Proviseure Jane Camblin et quelques membres clés de la communauté, nous avons forgé une alliance avec Chinese American International School, convaincu la


ville de San Francisco d’appuyer une émission d’obligations municipales, recruté des investisseurs importants tels qu’American Express, et acquis l’ancien bâtiment de Caltrans au 150 Oak pour en faire notre nouveau foyer. Nous avons construit un gymnase, et transformé des bureaux délabrés en salles de classe, laboratoires, espaces de réunion, avec un théâtre et des studios d’art. Nous avons également préparé une transformation grâce à laquelle nous ne sommes pas seulement bien installés dans nos locaux, mais notre taille a également presque triplé.

Même si nos fondations physiques étaient alors solides, l’établissement était en position plus fragile au niveau financier. Avec des dépenses élevées, un fonds de dotation en capital négligeable et un système de contrôles financiers quelque peu sporadiques, malgré son impressionnante réputation dans le domaine scolaire, le Lycée International Franco-Américain n’était pas le client préféré de

notre auditeur. D’abord au poste de trésorier avant de succéder à Alan, Adam Cioth a fait de la sécurité financière une priorité du Conseil de gestion. Nous avons édifié des réserves, renforcé le fonds de dotation en capital, refinancé notre dette obligataire, et aidé le Directeur financier, Aaron Levine, à imposer un système efficace de contrôles financiers. L’établissement est aujourd’hui en excellente santé financière, et la lecture de la lettre de recommandations annuelle de notre auditeur est, au moins du point de vue du trésorier du conseil, un véritable plaisir depuis quelques années.

Une assise pour l’avenirL’établissement disposant

maintenant d’une solide assise scolaire et financière, le Conseil a fait de nos locaux sa priorité suivante. Sous la direction d’Adam, nous avons acquis le Pavillon des arts Dennis Gallagher au 66 Page Street, qui a immédiatement

séduit les élèves, et les enseignants comme les parents. Nous avons également apporté des améliorations considérables au 150 Oak Street.

Les locaux restaient un objectif prioritaire lorsque Tex Schenkkan a succédé à Adam, et, sous sa direction, le Conseil est resté très actif. Nous avons continué à apporter des améliorations au 150 Oak, avons ouvert notre splendide nouveau centre de la Maternelle, et acquis des propriétés avoisinantes sur les rues Fell et Oak qu’il reste à aménager pour en faire de nouvelles additions à notre campus urbain en plein développement. Même si nous avons beaucoup fait pour aménager des locaux au niveau de l’excellence de nos élèves et de notre personnel, pour le conseil de gestion, nous avons à peine commencé.

Notre autre travailLe conseil est exclusivement

composé de bénévoles, de parents d’élèves, d’anciens parents d’élèves et de professionnels de

“The moment that first told us that we’d done the right thing was when we were sitting at home, and our daughter Katie was trying to explain something to us. In the middle of the thought she stopped dead and said, ‘I don’t know how to say this in English.’ She knew exactly what she wanted to say and how to say it in French, and I thought, that’s fabulous. She actually knows a concept in a different language in a different culture that she can express perfectly, and is actually having the opposite problem, trying to figure out how to do that in her native tongue. It was a very exciting moment, actually.”

tex schenkkanchairman, board of trustees

LEFT: Tex Schenkkan at the Dîner d’Epicure, May 1, 2015


Chair Emeritus Adam Cioth Bids Farewell After 14 Years of Dedicated Service This May, longtime French American and International Parent and Trustee Adam Cioth concluded his 14-year tenure as a member of the Board of Trustees. Adam served from 2001 to 2015, including two consecutive terms as President from 2004 to 2010. Under his leadership the school undertook a successful expansion of the campus, including the construc-tion of the Dennis Gallagher Arts Pavilion.

LEFT: Adam Cioth with Performing Arts HOD Michelle Haner at the Grand Opening of the Dennis Gallagher Arts Pavilion, October 6, 2009.

l’enseignement caractérisés par une passion commune pour le Lycée International Franco-Américain. Nous avons perdu notre seul avantage, la permission de se garer sur le parking de l’école après les heures d’ouverture, il y a deux ans. Nous sommes investis de deux missions principales : garantir le présent et l’avenir de l’établissement, et veiller au recrutement et à la rétention du meilleur proviseur possible. Nous y avons travaillé sans relâche au cours des vingt-cinq dernières années, et même si ce travail ne sera jamais achevé, nous sommes très fiers d’une institution qui n’a jamais été plus solide et prospère.

Nos accomplissements n’auraient pas été possibles sans la vision de notre ancienne proviseure, Jane Camblin, dont le départ pour New York a laissé un vide très difficile à combler. Lorsque Jane a annoncé qu’elle avait l’opportunité d’assumer la direction de l’École Internationale des Nations-Unies,

le Conseil de gestion n’a pas perdu une seconde. Tex a mis en place des comités chargés du recrutement d’un proviseur par intérim et d’un proviseur permanent. Le Conseil de gestion a également approuvé la nomination de Richard Ulffers au poste de Proviseur-Adjoint pour faciliter la transition. Une recherche prolongée et complète nous a conduit à Melinda Bihn. Notre nouvelle proviseure, au cours de ces quelques mois au Lycée International Franco-Américain, a assumé d’une main de maître la succession de Jane, de sorte que l’avenir de l’établissement s’annonce encore plus prometteur. Melinda a su mériter la reconnaissance durable du conseil en très peu de temps puisqu’elle nous permet de faire bonne figure par son recrutement.

Cette présentation de quelques-uns des accomplissements du conseil au cours des trente dernières années contribuera peut-être à répondre à la question quant à ce que nous faisons exactement. Mais

la question ne manquera pas d’être de nouveau posée, et, l’éditorialiste du Point de vue du Conseil de gestion qui me succédera proposera sans doute bientôt une nouvelle liste d’accomplissements à titre de réponse. Et puisque nous parlons de succession, mon mandat de président du comité des finances et de trésorier s’achève cette année, et je serai bientôt remplacé par le très compétent Stephane de Bord. Je tiens à remercier, Aaron Levine, Directeur financier et des opérations, et dont les titres ne parviennent pas à décrire toutes les contributions au service de notre établissement, pour son talent, son dévouement et son amitié, grâce auxquels mes deux mandats ont été aussi productifs qu’agréables.

Merci Aaron.

N’hésitez pas à me faire part de vos réflexions à l’adresse [email protected]


Seána Canavan1997-2015

in memoriam

San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 2015

Seána Carolyn Canavan died Saturday eve-ning April 18, 2015, two days before her 18th birthday, when she was struck by a taxi on Pine Street in San Francisco.

Seána was born April 20, 1997, in Queens, NY. She was proud of her name (pronounced “Shaw-Na”) and especially the accent over the “a” which further distin-

guished it as special. She was similarly proud of her dual German and American citizenship, and her bi-racial identity. Her father recalls the day she was born, “The moment I laid eyes on her for the first time, she became the purpose of my life, the reason why I walk this earth. She will remain that forever.”

Her parents brought her to San Francisco when she was four months old. She grew up in San Francisco, sur-rounded by a loving family and many close friends. She also had relatives in Mississippi, Germany, and through-out Europe with whom she would remain close through-out her life.

She spent her elementary school years at the San Francisco Day School (SFDS) and her high school years at the International High School in San Francisco. Seána was set to graduate from International this June.

Seána had a vibrant presence and an inimitable sense of humor. She possessed a genuine and enthusiastic interest in people, even those she had just met. “Seána was the physical embodiment of a warm embrace delivered at 100 mph,” said San Francisco artist and her middle school art teacher, Rodney Ewing. She was “the light in the room and the voice in the crowd that made you feel welcome.”

Even at a young age Seána’s energy was powerful, pos-itive and connective. Her second grade teacher at SFDS, Lauren Del Balso remembered her as a “bright light” in the classroom. “She skipped into school each day with a spring in her step and morning hugs for everyone. Her enthusiasm was contagious.”

Seána’s parents were proud of her accomplishments as a student, artist, photographer, actor, and volleyball powerhouse. She played on varsity and club volleyball teams in high school and her love of sports started early. Her teacher and coach, Mary O’Brien, recalls Seána’s confidence and energy, “Once she was convinced she

could do something, there was no looking back. She was the ideal team member - energized, happy, and always (I mean always) looking out for her friends.”

Seána was an undeniable presence everywhere she went. “The halls at school are unbearable without your laughter echoing through them,” stated an International classmate. Her ebullient character brought people together. Ewing noted, “Seána’s personality was immedi-ately disarming and strangers soon became friends. This was Seána’s true gift, creating friends, anytime.”

Seána enjoyed traveling to Europe every summer with her father, visiting relatives in France, Spain, and Ger-many. This summer she had planned to travel throughout Europe with friends and then spend time with family in Bochum, Germany in order to improve her Ger-man. Seána planned to take a “gap year” following her graduation from International, in order to participate in a work-study program in Tanzania. She had hoped to at-tend the University of Berlin in the fall of 2017.

In addition to school, sports, family and friends, Seána loved spending time with her boyfriend of almost 2 years, Solon de Lima. The two met in Dolores Park in May of 2013. Solon said that the relationship imme-diately took off and since then, they never broke up for longer than an hour. He described their relationship as “crazily challenging” but very much worth the effort. “True love is hard. That’s all.”

Seána is survived by her parents, Sean and Tonia Canavan; her grandmother, Gudrun Canavan of Bochum, Germany; her aunts and uncles, Ute, Sabina, Steven, Heidi, Craig, and Chris; and her cousins, Jana, Sidney, Carlin, Fina, Linus, Jeronda, Jarod, Justin, Aubrea and Craig Jr. She is also survived by many adoring friends, including her best friends, Sammy, Abby and Mia Walker, Rosalie Neal, and Solon de Lima.

A philanthropic memorial fund has been set up by family and friends to honor Seána’s life and spirit. Each year a portion of the fund will be used to support pro-grams important to her and her community. If you would like to support the fund with a tax deductible gift, please send donations to: The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, The Seána Canavan Charitable Fund, Fund number 1082120, Fidelity Charitable, PO Box 770001, Cincinnati, Ohio 45277.

A collaborative grid-based portrait in memory of Seána created by the 10th Grade IB Art class



A calm, pleaceful place tocollaborate and explore

Jenny Sandelson, PK Teacher (English)

To be working in our new Maternelle is such a refreshing change after teaching in the very large Oak Street building. No more fire station blaring its siren, just a peaceful residential neighborhood that is calmer and more suitable for our young children. A small, familiar environment with large light-filled classrooms where learning can be enjoyed inside or outside. Students enjoy exploring and creating with messy paint play, sensory play, and large structures. It’s a place created just for the needs of our children.

The new Maternelle also allows for easy collaboration between my colleagues, making it a more harmonious learning environment. I find the children are very comfortable in their new surroundings and the parents benefit too, with a chance to interact in a less busy place. I am enjoying our new space and see such positive advantages in being here.

Two Maternelle teachers share their perspective on the design of the new space.

maternelle


Alice Jolimaître, PK Teacher (French)

« Bonjour Connie ! » lance un garçon de quatre ans en passant devant l’accueil de l’école et en se dirigeant seul vers sa classe, très à l’aise.

C’est que son école est un endroit à son échelle, rassurant, où tous les adultes le connaissent, dont il connaît chaque recoin, où il se sent rassuré et en sécurité. Un endroit calme qu’il s’est approprié en y affichant ses œuvres d’art, en jouant au foot dans la salle polyvalente, en s’appliquant pour écrire les mots légendant son dessin en classe ou en relâchant sur les fleurs de la cour les papillons de l’élevage de classe qui viennent de sortir de leur chrysalide.

“Je peux aller jouer dehors?” entend-on souvent dans les classes de la nouvelle maternelle.

C’est que, grâce à l’accès direct de chaque salle à la cours de récréation, les élèves peuvent sortir plus souvent, instantanément, pour aller courir, se rouler dans l’herbe, peindre avec de l’eau sur les murs, vérifier si les radis qu’ils ont plantés ont poussé ou construire des châteaux de sable. Ainsi, le déroulement de la journée suit le rythme de vie des enfants, avec une alternance de moments où ils apprennent par le jeu libre—mais toujours sous l’œil bienveillant d’un enseignant qui les guide—à jouer ensemble et de moments où ils apprennent, par des activités plus structurées, à développer toutes les autres compétences qui leur permettront de faire une bonne transition au primaire.

La maternelle de Page Street est une petite oasis dans la ville où les enfants prennent goût à apprendre dans un environnement bilingue pour un départ positif vers leur douze années suivantes dans notre école.


“Hello Connie!” exclaims a 4-year-old boy as he passes by the school’s reception desk, independently and confidently making his way to his Pre-K class-room.

His school is made just for him, a place where all the adults know him—and he knows all the nooks and crannies—and it’s where he feels comfortable and safe. It is a serene place where he is surrounded by walls covered in his artwork as he plays football in the multi-purpose room, where he writes out the words that caption his drawings, or where, upon exiting their chrysalides, butterflies raised by his class are released into the flowers of the courtyard.

“Can I go play outside?” teachers often hear in their classes at the new Maternelle. Thanks to direct access to the courtyard from each classroom, the students can go outside more often—and quickly—to run, roll in the grass, color the walls with water paint, check to see if the radishes they planted have sprouted or to build castles in the sand. In this way, the day’s schedule follows the rhythm of a young child’s life, with alternating moments where they learn by playing freely, but always under the watchful eye of a teacher who guides them—by playing together and by learn-ing with more structured activities to develop all their skills and allow them to easily transition into primary school.

The Page Street Maternelle is a little oasis in the middle of the city where children become accus-tomed to learning in a bilingual environment and leave ready for the next 12 years in our school.

maternelle

A positive “third teacher"Andrea Kennedy, Parent and Trustee, reflects on the impact of the new Maternelle.


When French American International School opened the Maternelle in the fall of 2014, Marie-Pierre Carlotti, Lower School Principal, was warmly adamant (as is her wonderful way) that

this purpose-built space was going to be a positive third teacher for our 170 children.

She was absolutely right.As a parent, I see the small, light-filled campus as the

third teacher for my daughter, a teacher that is just their size, sweet, and nurturing. The Maternelle teachers see that third teacher as one that is relaxing for their stu-dents. No long halls to navigate to go to recess, no dodg-ing big kids after school. And relaxed children are more open to learning and developing solid relationships.

But the students see their third teacher as neither relaxing nor nurturing. They find that teacher energiz-ing. The kindergartners are boisterously proud to be the oldest children on the campus, and feel important knowing the campus. “I know it’s my school because I know all of my school—every room and every teacher.” The PreK students are excited to walk outside in ‘”just three steps” and “play outside a lot”.

And as a Trustee, I see the Maternelle as a teacher that is a strong leader, one that is showing our parent and broader community our commitment to creating the right learning environments for our children. It’s a wonderful addition to French American International School that will have a lasting impact on many genera-tions to come.

LA LETTRE JUNE 2015 | 17LA LETTRE JUNE 2014 | 17LA LETTRE JUNE 2015 | 17


community

www.frenchamericansf.org/events

Annual Auction, Saturday, March 28, 2015

Dîner d’Epicure, Friday, May 1, 2015

Events bring our community together for cele-brations that are an integral part of our annual fundraising programs and provide vital support for students, faculty and general operating expenses. Thank you to each and every family that supported this year’s events. Your involve-ment—as attendees, donors, and volunteers—is most appreciated.

The Soirée des Vins was once again held at the historic San Francisco Ferry Building. In the true French tradition, it is one of our largest community events featuring a tasting of great wines, food, and music. In addition to the incredible se-lection of vintners, this year we also featured beer, spirits, and artisanal sodas. It’s no surprise that we saw a record attendance of over 500 people. Thanks to all of our volunteers and especially the Co-Chairs: Marc David, Ann Balajadia, and Debbie Zachareas, who made this an incredibly fun day.

Our Annual Auction was held in March at Bimbo’s 365 Club. Back by popular demand, the Casino Royale theme en-sured that the poker tables were full, the craps and blackjack tables were lively, and the martinis were dry. Spirited bidding for both silent and live auction items resulted in generous pro-ceeds, most especially for the Scholarship Paddle Raise. The highlight of the evening was a passionate and inspiring speech by our graduating Senior, Emerson Herrera, who spoke about his life-changing experiences at International High School. The event in total raised over $325,000. We want to especially ac-knowledge our Auction Co-Chairs, Kerry Bourdon, Kate Green and Alexandra Quinn, who worked tirelessly to make this a wonderful evening for everyone.

Le Dîner d’Epicure, kindly chaired once again by Kimberly Branagh and Laurie Poston, was an exquisite, intimate evening hosted by French American International parents Robert Mee and Dana Le in their beautiful Buena Vista Park home. Guests were treated to a multi-course dining experience by renowned chef Philippe Gardelle of Chapeau! The menu featured American Wagyu Tenderloin Tartare and Poached Wild Alaskan Halibut, complemented by wines se-lected by renowned wine expert and former French American and International parent, Charles Neal.

If you missed any of these events, be sure to check the school calendar early next year and plan to join in the com-munity celebrations where you will meet new people, connect with friends, and provide valuable support for our students!

Soirée des Vins, Sunday, November 9, 2014

Special Events2014-2015

Scholarship Speech


International High School Senior Emerson Herrera, 2015 Annual Auction

It is an honor to be here tonight celebrating the milestones of the past and continued awakening of the future. My name is Emerson Herrera, I am a senior, and I have a bright future because of Inter-national High School. While nationally only 10% of low-income students graduate from college, thanks to International, I know I will be a part of a larger community who will benefit from an incred-

ible high school and college education.International High School doesn’t teach their students

to only care about grades, but about the actual learning that is happening behind the closed doors of classrooms. International has nurtured us and prepared us well for college and our lives beyond that. Because of Interna-tional, I have embraced the true meaning of community, of being a diverse family. If you look around the school, you will see that we embody International’s true legacy: to build global citizens with a world-class education.

The International Baccalaureate program accom-plishes this and much more. It creates highly adaptable, self-motivated students who allow themselves to take intellectual risks and discover the world outside of the classroom. International is like no other school, encour-aging us to participate in community service projects that raise money to build schools in Ethiopia and Sen-egal, to participate in competitive athletics that make us a stronger and well-rounded student, and to participate in a dynamic arts program that challenges us to explore and express our creativity through student-led plays like the One Acts or exhibiting our artwork at the May Arts Festival.

Through Student Organizations and the Creativity, Ac-tion, Service (CAS) requirement for the IB, International lives out its strategic vision—to ”prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to communicate across cultures is of paramount impor-tance”. International is unique by encouraging its stu-dents to recognize their personal responsibilities in the face of change. Through my work as a volunteer thanks to the CAS project, I learned that mentoring and tutoring are critical components of an education that emphasize intellect and diversity. I believe International’s strategic vision pushes students to go a step further, and to ques-tion their role, not only as students, but also as contrib-uting members of society.

Along the way, International students have truly become global citizens. For example, when my English teacher taught us to write an essay, he didn’t teach us the exact structure, but the way in which we can al-low our thoughts to flow efficiently, to have confidence in ourselves, and to be creative. When my Geography teacher taught us about the harmful ways humans are af-fecting our planet, he was teaching us to be responsible individuals, to have ambitions, and to open our eyes to the consequences we can have on our future. When my Math teacher taught us about probabilities, he wasn’t teaching us how many times something cannot transpire, but how in most situations there will always be a chance that we may prevail.

Life is indeed a journey, and although we do not have a map to help us reach our destination, International has created a clear but flexible path for us to follow and carve on our own. Through International, I have been able to become a determined voice to fight for injustices in our education system, as they are the role models for how schools should look: diverse in thoughts, race, and nationalities, while at the same time, embracing each and every single unique quality we all possess.

International’s generous scholarship program has been a gift that gave me an opportunity to grow in ways I never imagined. I will take everything I have learned and apply it throughout my life, and hopefully pave the way for others who follow. International has pushed its students to work together towards a community of equality to allow low-income students, such as myself, to be an exception to that 90% who don’t graduate, but rather a part of the diverse and well-educated society we all deserve.

As the wise Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Do not go where the path may go; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Thank you so much for this incredible opportunity to share an amazing celebration of community and progress together.

While nationally only 10% of low-income students graduate from college, thanks to International, I know I will be a part of a larger community who will benefit from an incredible high school and college education.


volunteerism

Parent Engagement Par ExcellenceQ & A with Parents Robert Bottome and Erin O’Donnell Reiling

“We had a pretty strong connection to the school in our community just in our neighborhood. Spending time with those families, and seeing their children and the way that they were interacting with adults and the confidence that they had, we knew a lot of it came from the families, but we knew that it was also coming from the school that they were attending.”

jean paul balajadia board of trustees

Erin O’Donnell ReilingIn what capacity are you supporting the school?

Currently, I am the 1st Grade community coordinator, a parent docent to potential new families touring the school, and a Lower School Board Member, where I co-chair the community coordinators and co-chair the e-commerce committee.

One of the biggest projects I am working on now with other Board Members is creating an on-line school store to allow parents year-round access to a broader selec-tion of school merchandise.

Describe what your experience volunteering has been like?

For the most part, it has been a wonderful experience. Volunteering has allowed me the opportunity to meet parents and children from across the school and more deeply understand the trajectory of my child’s education. As a Lower School Board member, I get to more deeply understand the issues that affect our families. As a com-munity coordinator, I am able to contribute to social cohesion among the families in and outside of school. This exposure allows me to better partner with admin-istration, teachers and other parents in improving and extending how our children are educated. I encourage every parent to engage with our school in whatever fash-ion available to them. Our school is a fun and enriching environment for kids and adults alike.

What is your favorite part about engaging with the school?

Learning more about the school. Specifically, as I tour potential new families around the school, being able to peek in and see what is going on in the classrooms. I really enjoy these glimpses of what is to come for my own children.

What motivates you to engage with the school?

A strong educational program empowered by a family community is crucial to ensuring that healthy and happy kids grow into young adults ready to lead the world. I hope that my efforts will contribute to both.

Being part of the community means belong-ing to a family of faculty, staff, friends, and parents who seek to offer our students the best educational opportunities in an exciting learning environment. We are fortunate to have parents who engage with the school in a wide spectrum of ways.

Robert BottomeIn what capacity do you support the school?

The school offers many options for parents with chal-lenging work schedules to support the school. I have found that the participating as an Annual Fund volunteer makes effective use of short periods of availability, espe-cially the phoneathons, which can be highly efficient.

I also feel that chaperone roles on trips can be a very special way to contribute. Local field trips and overnight expeditions can be a great way to spend time with your child and get to know the teachers and students.

What has your volunteering has been like?

Making phone calls to solicit donations for the Annual Fund is a good way to learn about the concerns of some parents, but mainly it is a fun and interactive way to touch base with people you don’t get to see as often as you would like while rallying support for the school.

The overnight trips develop in complexity as our chil-dren progress through lower school and, of course, they culminate in the 5th Grade exchange program which was an important experience for both of my sons.

What is your favorite part about engaging with the school?

Since I don’t get to contribute routinely, I appreciate the flexibility and thought that the school puts into creating opportunities that add value in short pre-defined ways.

What motivates you to engage with the school?

It has been interesting, over the years, to compare notes with our friends who live in the city and with my older daughter, who attended International High School but who has many friends who attended schools around the town. I am happy to engage because I believe that what we are building here as a community is very special: an institution that is outward oriented and always evolving (not insular and self-referential), that provides structure without stifling children or diluting their individual accountability while always asking them to stretch. In many ways, it is the ideal hybrid of the private schools I attended growing up in New York City, the UN high school I attended in Geneva, Switzerland and the many things that make San Francisco one of the great cities in the world. These kids are very lucky.


achievement

Up to the Challenge

In the Middle School, students are thinking big and putting themselves to the test by participating in a number of competitions that span subject matter and the globe.

Seeking challenges such as these can be difficult yet rewarding, not to mention a powerful lesson in the steps (and stumbles) that lead to success. While rewards don’t always come easily, partici-pating in competitions provides students with the opportunity to test drive not only the road to

success, but also their strengths and interests. Sometimes they come out on top and sometimes they discover, by putting themselves out there, areas where they can grow and improve—ultimately to try again with newfound determination. Without risk some valuable lessons can

RANDALL MUSEUM SCIENCE FAIRFrench American Middle School students have been competing in the Randall Museum Science Fair for over 20 years. In February, every 6th, 7th and 8th grader uses class time to develop projects from hypothesis to testing to conclusions. Compellingly, many used their personal experi-ences as a springboard to develop their experiments. Altogether, students worked on an astounding 132 projects, of which nine were chosen by an internal panel of teachers for submission into the Randall Museum Science Fair. On February 28, 12 of our middle students (some of whom worked in pairs) represented French American, one of 28 schools partici-pating. French American sixth-grade student, Juliana Karp (pictured at left) brought home First Prize.

be lost and success hard to come by. No matter the outcome, these young and ambitious

contestants have many reasons to be proud, among them for taking on a challenge and for respecting their own hard work, that of their peers and the decision of a jury. In doing so, each participant demonstrates characteristics of personal and academic maturity that we all hope to instill in our students, such as confidence, passion, risk-taking and perseverance.

It isn’t easy stepping outside one’s comfort zone or finding time to pursue new ventures when the demands of academic rigor at French American are already so consuming, but our middle school students have shown that they are up to—and ready for—the challenge. The results speak for themselves.


AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL COMPETITION (AMC)Last fall 34 students participated in the American Mathematical Competition. This competition is dedicated to the goal of strengthening the mathematical capabilities of youth by rewarding excellence in math through a series of national contests. Several Middle School students and one 5th-grade student at French American earned top marks in the AMC competition, including one 1st-place award, two 2nd-place awards, and two 3rd-place awards.

MISSION LAÏQUE FRANÇAISE CONCOURS DE NOUVELLESEighth-grade student Fatou Ouedrago won the 1st prize in the Concours de Nouvelles (short stories contest) organized by the Mission Laïque Française. Seventy-four students participated in this contest, representing 38 schools in 20 countries.

This is the 3rd time and the 2nd consecutive year that a student at French American has won this prize.

To read Fatou’s complete story, go to bit.ly/Fatou_story

To listen to Fatou discuss her writing process, go to bit.ly/Fatou_interview

SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT LITERARY CONTESTEvery year, the San Francisco Unified School District organizes a visual and literary arts contest. Students from public, private, and independent schools are invited to participate. The contest is voluntary and this year 14 students from French American International School submitted short stories, nonfiction, or poetry. Out of all contest submissions from all participating schools, French American produced three winners:

■ Ina Lalic, 1st place for Middle School Short Story

■ Kaya Erol, 2nd place for Middle School Non-Fiction

■ Ylva Bosemark, Honorable Mention for the Narrative Arc in her Middle School Short Story


KAYA EROLINA LALIC

YLVA BOSEMARK

collaboration

fabrice urriZalQui and sÉbastien dufresnes

Sophie Sy-Quia, 5 RedI really liked the vertical writing project because it mixed the very important subject of journalism with advertising. Working with the other grades was very helpful since you got to see the different opinions and views of older, more experienced people. It was very fun to see the finished product and to see into the mind of an editor or a journal-ist. On the whole, it was a very cool and enlight-ening project that I hope the school does again.

Rocky Versace, Grade 6J’ai trouver que travailler avec mon groupe était très agréable. Notre élève de 2° à écoutait d’un oreille pour nous donner des conseils pendant qu’elle nous aidait à colorier et écrire. C’était facile de travailler avec mon groupe car tout le monde jouer une rôle: il y avez une fille française, un artiste, une éditrice du papier d’université et un qui pouvait écrire vite et soigné.

Gillian Berkowitz, Grade 10On March 27th, I created a newspaper cover with two fifth grade and two sixth grade students. They were delightful and eager to produce something of quality. My students came into the activity with an impressive amount of knowledge about the com-ponents of a newspaper, and surprisingly enough, they ended up teaching me. The students were pro-ductive and joined forces, creating a united team. I could not have been happier with them. Students spend most of their time at school listening to adult teachers, but I think working with someone closer to their age who is old enough to have some authority, proved to be extremely valuable. Shak-ing up the routine of the day is always fun, and the students learned collaboration and creativity.

Vertical Writing Project


For many years, the French Ministry of Edu-cation has encouraged schools to work on media and information. The students learn how the media works, the importance of a free press and why one needs to be informed in order to be a citizen.

This year, these learning goals seemed even more important as the tragedy at Charlie Hebdo oc-curred. Because the principles of critical thinking and citizenship are at the center of our mission, we thought that this kind of work on media should be part of our curriculum.

On March 27th, more than 130 students gathered for the second edition of a vertical writing project in French. Students from 5th-, 6th- and 10th-grade had to create the front page of a newspaper.

Beforehand, our students had discussed the im-portance of having a free press, how the information comes to us in different ways, how it is presented to us and how hard it can be to decide what information should be underlined. After having worked on this topic in their different classrooms, students from three dif-ferent grades worked together to make their own front page of a newspaper. They had to select which informa-tion would make the front page and which information would not. They also had to decide what illustration would be used and what the name of their newspaper would be. They had to discuss together, justify their opinions and reach an agreement.

Our goal was, of course, to see what our students had learned about the media and the selection of infor-mation, but it was also to see how they would work together coming from three different grades and how creative they could be.

As teachers, it was an absolute delight to see our students working collaboratively. 10th-graders led the groups in a very responsible manner, making sure the work was truly collective. We saw very proud 5th-graders telling the rest of the group what the different elements of a front page are!

A jury of teachers from the Lower School and Upper Schools chose the best front pages, but that is not what really matters. Our students were engaged, focused and challenged. They are learning how information comes to us and how important it is to be critical thinkers. This is what matters.


internships

Beyond the ClassroomThree International High School students share their impressions of the off-campus internships they undertook this past year.

Alessandro Prospato joined Interna-tional High School from Prospect Sierra in August of 2014. He is one of eight students in the internship program, spearheaded by Amanda Patterson, which provides hands-on business learning experiences. In the

following interview, Alessandro discusses his experi-ence as an intern over February break at San Francisco magazine.

Why did you target San Francisco magazine?

I live in the East Bay and thought of it as a way to get to know the city more. And I realized that San Francisco magazine didn’t have a section geared towards teenag-ers, so I thought that might be an option for them to implement.

Tell us about your experience.

During my week there, I shadowed the marketing and sales team, I sat in meetings, and mostly worked with their social media component—how to improve their Twitter and Instagram pages. For example, they have this hashtag that they always use on their Instagram page: #thetruesf. So I came up with the idea that for the hashtag, they can start an ad campaign where for a month people post pictures and tag what really is the epitome of San Francisco living to them. At the end of the month they raffle off tickets to one of their events. And the person who has the best picture wins.

What did you learn?

I got better insight into what it is to work at a job. With a magazine, it’s always glorified in movies and TV shows to be this intimidating place of high fashion and this and that. I would say I learned what it is to have a 9 to 5 job. I think it’s better than school!

I would say that one thing I couldn’t learn in a class-room that I got from my week there would be sitting in on meetings. During my stay, their main rival said that they were going to stop doing print. So that meant all of these ad dollars that San Francisco magazine didn’t have before were now possibly up for grabs.

What did you learn in class that helped you during the internship?

I would say that the main things the classroom taught me—and really just the atmosphere of our school—was how to act in a professional setting. So the right manners and what to do if you don’t have anything to do. You don’t want to be constantly bugging the person you’re shadowing. Also, Amanda—who is the head of our in-ternship program—told us the etiquette before we went on our internships.

What would you tell a student looking to intern?

I would say don’t be intimidated. I think the word “internship” is used in such a professional manner. College kids are going to go on an internship during their summer and then they’re going to start work. But really, it’s more of a learning experience. I think it’s good to go to a company before you’re in college and a grown adult and you really have to start thinking about that. Just having the experience and sitting-in really contributes to your view as a person. It was a good experience and I really enjoyed it.

Katie Prevost, Marketing Director at San Francisco magazine, praised Alessandro’s participation in the program. “Alessandro went above and beyond to listen, learn, brainstorm, and collaborate with our team. His questions were always relevant and insightful. He is easily already competitive with the college interns who come on board as part of our summer intern program.”

Freshman Leaves Imprint in Print


“I’ll get approached by usually youngish couples in business. They’ve taken on one of our students as an intern over the summer. They’re so impressed by the kid, that they want their own child to go to our school.”

josh nossiter board of trustees

José McDevitt-Hickey, International High School Junior, participated in the Citizen Science Conference in San Jose on February 12, 2015. The conference is a gathering of research scientists—among them are high school students like Jose. These students are part of a movement to get more people involved in research and they’re known as citizen scientists.

José found himself immersed in scientific studies and research just two years ago after signing on with the California Academy of Sciences as a paid intern in its Careers in Science (CiS) internship program. CiS is a multiyear, year-round work-based youth development program for young people from groups typically under-represented in the sciences.

In the following interview, José discusses his experi-ence as a CiS intern and how the program developed his skills as a young scientist and confident speaker—and ultimately to the distinction of presenting at the Ameri-can Geophysical Union conference and, more recently, at the Citizen Science Conference in San Jose.

José McDevitt-Hickey ‘16 Discusses Science Internship and ResearchHow long have you been with program?

I’ve been part of the internship for almost two years now. I have a time commitment: during the school year this depends on the different ranks you’re in—Level 1 being most basic and Level 4 being highest. Right now, I’m in a Level 2 and I work between 8-12 hours a week.

During weekdays over the summer, I would be on the public floor at California Academy of Sciences engag-ing with guests. There are different stations, known as “Demonstration Stations,” for example Extinct Mammals. I would need to be able to respond to guests’ questions and give background information on the exhibit.

What are your thoughts on the program?

I really enjoy working at the Academy of Sciences. Going into the program and being able to do different presentations, I was able to understand not just what science is about, but public speaking and how to be a leader and be professional. Overall it really helped develop who I am today.

Do you have an example of how you related your work in CiS with what you learned in Higher Level Biology at International High School?

There used to be a Creation Station called “DNA.” It was an interactive station. We would perform the procedure of extracting DNA from strawberries in front of museum guests.

Are you curious about science in the future?

I definitely see science as a potential career opportunity. I am really into biology and I am thinking along the lines of biotech design.

Would you recommend the program to other students?

I would really recommend this to another student—it’s an eye-opening experience. I’ve never talked in front of a large crowd before and once I leveled up from level one to level two, I was able to participate in a confer-ence that had over 24,000 participants. I was giving non-stop presentations to people walking up and down

José (left) at the Citizen Science Conference, February 2015


Edgar Smit, a Senior this year at International High School, remembers being interested in the sciences since he was young, when he would spend hours read-ing about the subject. Over time his love for the sci-ences hasn’t changed, but his approach to it has. From a voracious reader of the way things work, Edgar is now an avid doer, applying theory to practice as any good scientist would do. This past summer, leading up to his senior year, Edgar completed an internship at UC Berke-ley in the Materials Science and Engineering department working on nanoparticle assemblies using different instruments to study the structure of various polymers.

Meanwhile, Edgar relates his experience in the UC Berkeley lab to his work at International High School. Students in Grade 12 Art are asked to choose a theme for their work. Without surprise, Edgar chose the topic of nano materials and how to make them understandable. He is focusing on atomic force and imaged polymers for his first project. “One of my art projects this year involves creating a catapult as a tool to measure dif-ferent mass, and by building it using the concept of a mass spectrometer—an instrument I used during my internship that can calculate the mass of a molecule,” says Edgar. “This catapult can be used to shoot multiple materials covered in paint to esthetically illustrate the mass of an object based on the distance traveled.”

For his Art projects, including this catapult, Edgar uses International High School’s newly launched Design Lab. When asked about it, he notes how project options have expanded with access to all the instruments and tools available in this new space. In his free time, he’s also using the Design Lab to create a laser guitar using a 3D printer and plans to use one of the lab’s laser cutters to shape the wood of his guitar.

UC Berkeley Intern Uses Art and Engineering to Explain Nano ObjectsNow graduated and finished with his French Bac, this

trilingual teen (he speaks Dutch in addition to French and English) has narrowed down what he wants to pursue in years to come. “I love Engineering and the application of materials,” says Edgar. “This is what I will pursue after graduation.”

Edgar Smit with the catapult he designed in the school’s newly inaugurated Design Lab.

the aisles and I really had to step outside my comfort zone to be able to talk to different people. Having had such an eye-opening experience, I also want other people to experience it.

What did you present at this conference?

Back in December of 2014, I took part in the American Geophysical Union Conference, which had over 24,000 participants. I was invited because I did a research poster on sand crabs—they are little crabs in the sand at

Ocean Beach with parasites in them. I wanted to see if there was any correlation with the parasites inside the sand crabs. I presented my research at the Geophysi-cal Union conference, and was then invited to present at the Citizen Science Conference in San Jose, where I talked about my experience as a youth going through the scientific process and presented my poster.

Two of my mentors, my CiS boss and a PhD candidate studying youth interactions in the science field, also presented at the conference.


This year, selective college admission rates in the United States continued the trend of continual shrinking. Stanford Univer-sity led this year with the most selective acceptance rate of only 5.04%. UCLA received a record-breaking 92,681 ap-plications—the most college applications

of any school in the United States. Here is a sampling of this year’s admission rates for some of the most selective schools in the United States:

Admit Rate School

5.04% Stanford5.30% Harvard6.1% Columbia6.5% Yale7.8% University of Chicago8.5% Brown12% Johns Hopkins12% Northwestern14.9% Cornell15% UC Berkeley15% Georgetown15% Washington University, St. Louis 15% UCLA17% Middlebury17% USC 19% Barnard

Continuing the Trend of Success in Selective College Admissions

Despite the increased competition, our Class of 2015 continued our tradition of gaining acceptance to the most selective colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. The 83 members of the Class of 2015

college counseling

College Counselors Ashley Rochman and Chris Sharp share their views on the Class of 2015’s college application activity.

Selective College Admit Rates Continue to Shrink

who applied to college this year received a wide ar-ray of fantastic offers of admission. Twenty-six different students received offers from universities that accept 15% or fewer of its applicants. Students in the Class of 2015 received offers from such schools as Harvard (2 students), Stanford (3 students), Brown (3 students), Columbia (2 students) Cornell (3 students), Yale, Uni-versity of Chicago (3 students), Georgetown (2 students) Middlebury, Northwestern, Washington University in St. Louis (3 students), Barnard College (3 students), Carnegie Mellon (7 students), and other prestigious schools in the US and abroad. Please see the side bar showing all ac-ceptances the Class of 2015 received.

On the University of California front, UCLA had a record-breaking 15 percent admit rate. Despite the competition, ten of our students received offers from UCLA. UC Berkeley’s admit rate for California residents will hover at around 15%—perhaps as low as 13% (the admit rate has not been officially announced yet). Berke-ley received 78,863 applications. Despite this increased competition, the Class of 2015 received nine acceptanc-es to UC Berkeley. All UC campuses have experienced system-wide increases in applications. Five years ago, the UC system received 142,235 applications. This year, the UC system received 193,873 applications.

Internationally, we experienced an increase in the number of students interested in the UK. Students re-ceived multiple prestigious UK acceptances, including multiple unconditional offers to Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Glasgow, and King’s College London. Students also re-ceived offers from Durham, Exeter, and York. In Canada, our students received offers from McGill University, University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, and Concordia University. One of our students received offers from the prestigious Columbia University-Sciences Po joint degree program and the University of British Columbia-Sciences Po joint degree program. Decisions from other French universities are still pending.

Please see the other side bar for a list of where the members of the Class of 2015 will attend college (not all decisions are available at this time).

Congratulations to the Class of 2015!

LA LETTRE JUNE 2015 | 31LA LETTRE JUNE 2015 | 31

class of 2015: where are they going?

acceptancesAmerican University (6)American University of ParisBard College (4 students)Barnard College (3)Bates College (3)Becker CollegeBennington CollegeBoston CollegeBoston University (14)University of Bristol (UK)University of British Columbia (5)Brown University (3)California State Polytechnic

University, PomonaCalifornia Polytechnic State

University, San Luis Obispo (2)

California State UniversityEast BayFullerton (2)Monterey BayNorthridgeSacramentoStanislaus

University of CaliforniaBerkeley (9)Davis (17)Irvine (9)Los Angeles (10)Merced (4)Riverside (11)San Diego (9)Santa Barbara (7)Santa Cruz (20)

Carleton College (4)Carnegie Mellon University (7)Case Western Reserve

University (2)Chapman University (4)College of CharlestonUniversity of Chicago (3)City University (UK)Clark University (10)Colgate University (2)University of Colorado, Boulder (3)Columbia University (2)Concordia University, Montreal (2)Connecticut College (2)University of Connecticut (2)Cornell University (3)Davidson CollegeDenison UniversityUniversity of DenverDePaul University (5)Dominican University of CaliforniaDrexel University (3)Durham University (3)École polytechnique fédérale de

Lausanne

University of Edinburgh (4)Emerson College (2)Emmanuel College (2)Eugene Lang College (4)University of Exeter U.K. (3)University of FloridaFordham University (3)Franklin and Marshall CollegeGeorge Mason University (2)George Washington University (2)Georgetown University (2)Georgia Institute of TechnologyUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Glasgow U.K.Goldsmiths College, University

of London U.K.Goucher College (2)Hampshire College (2)Harvard University (2)Haverford CollegeHawaii Pacific UniversityHEC Montreal Humboldt State UniversityUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign (4)Illinois Wesleyan University (2)Ithaca College (2)Johns Hopkins University (4)Kenyon College (2)King’s College London (6)Lawrence UniversityLewis & Clark College (12)London School of EconomicsUniversity College LondonLoyola Marymount University (2)Loyola University,

New Orleans (3)Macalester CollegeUniversity of Massachusetts,

Amherst (2)McGill University (5)Merrimack College (2)University of Miami (3)Middlebury CollegeMills CollegeMount Holyoke CollegeNew College of FloridaNew York University (10)Northeastern University (4)Northwestern UniversityOberlin College (6)Occidental College (6)University of Oregon (13)University of the PacificPennsylvania State University (2)Pepperdine UniversityProvidence CollegeUniversity of Puget Sound (5)

Purdue University (2)University of Redlands (2)Reed College (4)Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteUniversity of RochesterRoyal Holloway, University of

London (2)San Francisco State University (2)University of San Francisco (4)Santa Clara University (2)Sarah Lawrence College (9)School of the Art Institute of

ChicagoSciences Po–Columbia University

Dual BA ProgramSciences Po–University of

British Columbia Dual Degree Program

Scripps College (2)Simmons CollegeSkidmore College (3)Sonoma State University (2)University of Southern

California (3)Southern New Hampshire

UniversitySouthwestern UniversitySpelman CollegeUniversity of St. Andrews (3)St. Mary’s College of MarylandUniversity of St. MaryStanford University (3)Suffolk University (2)Syracuse UniversityTemple UniversityThe University of Texas, AustinUniversity of Toronto (2)Trinity UniversityTulane University (4)University of the West of

Scotland (U.K.)Université de MontréalVassar CollegeUniversity of Virginia (2)Wake Forest UniversityWashington University in

St. Louis (3)University of Washington (12)Wellesley CollegeWhitman College (2)Whittier College (3)Willamette University (4)College of William and MaryUniversity of Wisconsin,

MadisonYale UniversityUniversity of York U.K. (4)

American University (2)Bard CollegeBarnard CollegeBoston UniversityUniversity of British ColumbiaBrown University (2)

University of CaliforniaBerkeley (4), Davis, Los Angeles (2)Riverside, San Diego, Santa Cruz (2)

Carleton College (2)Carnegie Mellon University (2)Columbia UniversityConcordia University, MontrealCornell UniversityDrexel University (3)Durham University (UK)École polytechnique fédérale de

LausanneEmerson CollegeGeorgetown University (2)Harvard UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversityKing’s College London (3)Lewis & Clark CollegeLondon School of Economics (UK)Loyola Marymount UniversityMcGill University (2)New York University (2)New York University, ShanghaiOberlin College (2)Occidental CollegeReed College (2)Royal Holloway, University of LondonSarah Lawrence College (2)Sciences Po – Columbia University

Dual BA ProgramScripps CollegeSkidmore CollegeSonoma State University (2)Stanford University (3)Syracuse UniversityThe University of Texas, AustinTulane UniversityUniversity of Chicago (2)University of EdinburghUniversity of Exeter (UK)University of Oregon (2)University of RochesterUniversity of San FranciscoUniversity of St. Andrews University of TorontoUniversity of Virginia University of Washington (3)Washington University in St. LouisWhitman CollegeWillamette University

matriculation


Name: Iris FeldmanTrack: French BacFrom: French AmericanDestination: Harvard University

Tell us about an “aha moment” that you had.

In junior year at one of the concerts, I recited “Black History” by Gil Scott-Heron. I was given this confidence (by the music teacher who had directed me in the orchestra) to put myself out there and to speak a truth that I thought the school needed to hear. When I spoke that poem it was one of the scariest moments of my life. Afterwards people came up to me and said, “This has changed my perspective. I’d never thought of this before.” In that moment I was the person that I wanted to be most.

What do the next four years look like for you?

Next year I’m going to take a gap year to explore my interests and have real-world experience before going back into academia. I deferred my acceptance to Harvard, so I have a place to go. This way, I can learn about the world before going on to the next step of my learning process. I’m really excited!

Name: Emerson HerreraTrack: International BaccalaureateFrom: Children’s Day SchoolDestination: Carleton College

What is your country of origin? Why did your parents decide to come to the States?

I’m originally from Guatemala. I was only two and a half when I came to the United States. My parents decided to come here mostly because of the educational opportunities. They knew that in Guatemala education wasn’t as accessible as in the U.S., and they wanted to give me a better future.

What are your goals?

I have a lot of goals. Definitely one that has stuck with me is the one my mother wanted. She passed away when I was in 7th grade, and her last wish was for me to continue with my education: to graduate from high school and go to the college I wanted to go to. Now I’m interested in International Relations. With that major—as with many others—you’re able to go into different fields. But definitely after that I would like to go to law school.

Four graduating seniors share their reflections.

class of 2015


Name: Regina DamigouTrack: International BaccalaureateFrom: European School of BrusselsDestination: Exeter University

Regina joined International in her junior year, after moving to San Francisco from Belgium.

Explain an aspect of the IB program that you liked.

In my Theory of Knowledge class, we related what we learned in the classroom back to the real world. My TOK presentation revolved around issues that had just happened—the Eric Garner case and Charlie Hebdo—and I used what I learned in the classroom to compare the two.

Tell us about your service learning experience.

Because John Muir is a public school with many economically disadvantaged students, things that I might take for granted—like a meal on the table every night—might not be something that they have. Also, the way they’re educated is very different from the way I’m educated because they’re in very large classrooms. Even though they were very young, I learned a lot about how they enjoy life and deal with the struggles they face.

Name: Nicolas ThayerTrack: French BacFrom: French AmericanDestination: Reed College

Tell us about an “aha moment” that you had.

One thing I realized this year in terms of my future career possibilities is that I don’t want to work in a science lab all my life, because I want to be in close connection with people. I want to see the people that I’m affecting... hopefully I’ll be affecting people! I want to understand different ways of living, how people live in different countries, and all the differences that I have with other people that might be good or bad. It is important to me to understand what hardships other people go through.

Qu’est-ce que tu dirais a un étudiant qui veut faire le Bac scientifique ?

Pour moi le Bac-S a été génial. Ça a été surtout des sciences, mais aussi un peu d’humanités, un peu de langues, un peu d’art puisque je suis en Option Théâtre, donc c’était un peu un mélange de tout. Et puis les personnes qui sont dans le Bac, on est une famille. On est 22 cette année et on est vraiment très proche l’un de l’autre, donc ça aussi ça a été génial.


alumni profile

became more corporate. I decided to leave and start my own business in the south of England in Brighton.

French American inspired me a lot for what I did next in the learning languages area. I remember we had a teacher here by the name of David Goldberg, and he got us to create these multimedia pieces. I remember one in particular… where we had to use our third lan-guage. I made a house where you had to get through it by answering these different questions in Spanish and I thought “That’s really cool! I would like to look at what I can do with that when I graduate,” and that’s what I ended up doing.

Tell us more about the company you started.

I decided to start my own business with a former col-league for various reasons. One of them was that we really liked working in small, active environments—one where you can pivot easily and change strategy. We both worked in an environment that had a corporate feel, so we had a good idea of the pros and cons of working in that environment and we decided that we preferred a smaller team where we could really make a difference and play a big part.

Our industry is the educational technology industry. There are so many amazing things happening right now. It’s a very new landscape that is growing and being made by mobile technologies. We have seen how bigger companies are adapting and we thought this was a really great time to go out on our own and see how mobile technologies are being used in schools and what we could do for it with everything we know. So we got go-ing with it. It has been really fun and challenging.

What is the name of your company?

The company is called Lighthouse Learning. Our third app got featured in the Apple Store in the kids’ 6-8 category.

Danielle Barnetche ‘03 attended French American International School from PreK-Grade 12. She recently visited campus and sat down with her former Pre-K teach-er, now Lower School Principal, Marie-

Pierre Carlotti. Danielle currently lives in London and is Director of her own company, Lighthouse Learning.

Why did your family choose French American?

My dad is French from the Basque country and it was important to both my parents that my sister and I could speak French and interact with our family in France and have the possibility of moving back there if we wanted to. So, they sent us to French American International School for that. At the time it was a lot smaller and you really moved from year-to-year with all of your friends.

When we got to high school, I did look at some other options. It was a good time to look around and see if I should go to another school, but I felt like I was in good hands here: I was getting a good education, I had all of my friends, and I was interested in the French Bacca-laureate, so I stayed.

Where did you go and what did you do after graduating from International High School?

After graduation, I moved to England, where I completed a degree at the University of Kent at Canterbury. It was a BS in Multimedia Technology and Design. When I finished my degree, I got a job working as a producer making e-learning content for elementary schools. It was a web-based learning product. I was working specifical-ly on foreign language games—designing games to learn languages because that was a passion I had probably from going to school here. I was able to use my French and Spanish which was really handy.

I moved along from there, and started working on other subjects. As the company grew, it was acquired and

8 Questions for Alumna Danielle Barnetche, Class of 2003

Q&A


What do you notice when you walk around the French American campus now?

Walking around the school now, you really get the feeling that the administration is trying to make a really good environment for kids. For the high school, it is one you can relax in, learn in, and one that is collaborative. In elementary, I love the desks! The shape of the desks! I noticed that right away because I remember our long rectangular desks where we’re not facing each other. You hear a lot about getting kids to work together more eas-ily. You feel that they’ve done that here in a really cool way. Then in the high school... it looks cool! There is a nice hang out spot... there is a really nice flow through the building.

Do you remember your first day of school at French American?

I was so young! I was saying to Marie-Pierre that I re-member my first day of Pre-K crying and not wanting my mom to leave!

It is hard to remember a lot from Pre-K, but when I walked in the room today, Marie-Pierre’s voice is so familiar to me—more than anything. I think it was ‘89 or ‘90. I remember the play kitchen and the great, big area to sit down in a circle. I remember it being really fun.

What do you think about your education in retrospect?

At the time, I remember thinking—we all thought—this is tough. My friends and I would talk about how it was so hard and how the teachers were really demanding. And now I think about how I was so lucky to have such demanding teachers. They really expected a lot from you and we delivered because of that... I learned a lot! I felt so much better prepared for everything that came after. When I think back, I’m like “Wow! Did I really do that?”

When we were younger, we had our time divided into French instruction and English. We would spend half the day on Monday in French, the other half in English. Then alternate, English, French, English, French. Walking around the school now I hear the mix of languages and it is so normal to the students. It used to be normal for me, too. It is really amazing.

What do you think an international education should offer today on top of the Bac?

I think the appreciation for other cultures, understanding the things that are happening in the world, and the di-versity that you have. I see the exchange programs going on here... for me that makes it an international experi-ence—you’re not just wrapped up in your little bubble of school—you still get a feeling for the world.

Lower School Principal Marie-Pierre Carlotti with her former stuent, Danielle Barnetche ‘03


blended learning

Summertime, and the Learning is Blended

Thanks to the time and place in which we live, pedagogical tools abound. But quantity does not mean quality, and educators must suss out what methods are most effec-tive for their classrooms and students. At French American International School, we believe that blended learning is the way

forward. But what is it? In a nutshell, blended learning combines traditional and modern learning methods. The conventional approaches of lectures, class discussions, and group projects are fused with contemporary medi-ums such as podcasts, automatically graded exercises, online platforms with dashboards, and social media. In a “flipped” classroom, for example, the teacher records a short lecture via video podcast for students to absorb on their own—as many times as they require and on the device of their choice—outside the classroom. That frees up class time for answering questions and for peer-to-peer exercises. As another example, students can take quizzes on paper, in class or online outside of class after taking a lesson delivered by their instructor or another source. The goal, of course, is differentiation, or develop-ing a personalized learning experience for all students, at their respective levels.

At International High School, class syllabi are defined by either the International Baccalaureate or the French

Ministry of Education. How our teachers deliver the syllabi is at their discretion, and it so happens that our open, forward-thinking culture gives our teachers great flexibility. The challenge is to maintain that freedom within a common framework. Enter the Summer Insti-tute, a project led by International High School in San Francisco and the United Nations International School in New York. At the bicoastal two-week workshop, teach-ers, students and educational technology corporations collaborate to produce blended high school units of inquiry. (A unit is a topic delivered over multiple weeks, such as solving the quadratic equation.)

How is the summer institute structured?Preparation Phase: Prior to attending the Institute,

teachers take an online course on blended learning developed by both schools. Attendees then prepare their lesson plans in a blended format, containing essential questions, the objectives of each activity, delivery meth-ods, tools used, and assessment methods.

During the Workshop: In the morning, teachers present lessons that are analyzed and critiqued by the group. Various IT tools are presented with best practices on their use. In the afternoon teachers enter their units into a Learning Management System chosen by the Institute.

Students and colleagues then test the units, after which a showcase takes place at the end of each week.

Last year, two of our teachers attended the Summer Institute at the United Na-tions International School. Upon return-ing they led a training of our teachers at in-service day. This year, International will host the Summer Institute and 12 of our teachers will attend. The aim is that an inspired critical mass of teachers will share the methods learned and help cre-ate a professional learning community at school. As noted by High School Prin-cipal Joel Cohen, “The workshop fosters collaboration, encouraging educators not to teach their subjects in isolation. And by blending, teachers use the best of the traditional and innovative tools at their fingertips.”


LEFT: Laurence Hills (Upper School Français) consults with her colleague Katia Aouat, coordinator of the school’s Blended Learning initiative, at the In-Service Day, October 13, 2014. ABOVE: Jeremie Rostan (Philosophie/TOK) with Gregory Verdol (Histoire/Géographie.)


iBook project

Créer et partager un manuel sur iBooks

MARIE VOLTA, FRANÇAIS

Depuis 2013, alors que dans notre école chaque élève commençait à être familiarisé avec l’iPad, devant la rareté et la complexité d’utilisation des manuels en ligne existants, devant la frilosité des éditeurs de manuels scolaires, je me suis tournée vers la création de manuels personnels sur iBooks. J’ai

trouvé dans la fabrication de manuels sur iBooks, une manière de partager et de créer que je n’avais pas jusqu’à présent. Construire un manuel électronique me permet de rassembler tous les éléments du cours (textes, images, liens vers des films, des podcasts, des blogs) et de les organiser de manière pédagogique, mais aussi de satisfaire une passion pour la création du livre, que j’ai depuis longtemps.

Lors de mes études, pour mon mémoire de DEA (Master II) j’ai travaillé sur l’édition de textes du XVIIIe siècle, puis j’ai accompli deux stages en maison d’édition : l’un aux Éditions de l’Imprimerie nationale, qui mettaient en valeur les anciennes techniques d’imprimerie aux caractères de plomb ; l’autre aux Éditions Diane de Selliers, une éditrice de livre d’art et de littérature : chaque année, elle remet au goût du jour un grand texte littéraire illustré par un mouvement artistique. L’année où j’ai travaillé pour elle, nous avons mis en page Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide, illustrées par la peinture baroque. De ces deux stages, et de cette manipulation et adaptation de livres anciens, j’ai conservé le goût du beau livre, de la mise en page, de l’image comme vecteur vers le texte.

Créer des manuels à utilisation immédiate, instantanée, me procure une grande souplesse, ainsi

qu’à mes élèves : je prépare et modifie selon leurs réactions, leurs idées, leurs suggestions, mes réactions aussi et les idées qu’ils m’inspirent. La mise en image est pour moi très importante, surtout en pédagogie, car elle permet de faire des parallèles avec l’histoire des arts, d’approcher le texte plus aisément, de le comprendre plus facilement ou d’en retenir l’idée principale. Pour des élèves qui auraient une mémoire visuelle, c’est primordiale.

De plus, tous les documents sont rassemblés sur un même support : le manuel électronique fait office de livre, de cahier, de classeur. On peut prendre des notes personnalisées à l’intérieur du manuel, les envoyer par email à un élève absent, faire des analyses d’images grâce à des widgets élaborés, répondre à des quiz, rédiger des longs textes et les faire parvenir directement au professeur pour correction ou vérification.

L’avantage de créer le manuel au fil de l’année scolaire est que je peux y insérer des travaux d’élèves (des synthèses, des exemples de dissertations, de commentaires, des exposés, des écritures d’invention ou des essais sur l’histoire des arts, des analyses comparatives et filmiques...) et ainsi favoriser le travail collaboratif, qui prendra tout son sens lors des révisions du BAC de Français.

Pour composer le manuel, j’utilise autant que possible des documents, textes et images, libres de droit. Lorsque ce n’est pas le cas (pour les textes du XXe siècle par exemple, qui, en France, tombent dans le domaine public au bout de 70 ans – 50 ans pour les États-Unis), je le signale aux éditeurs et je dois payer les droits afin de publier le manuel sur iBooks.

Il est facile aussi de présenter des projets ponctuels sous format électronique, ainsi nous avons créé un livre intitulé #JeSuisCharlie au moment de l’attaque du journal satirique, avec des études d’images, de chansons, et les dessins et réactions des élèves. Nous sommes actuellement dans la conception d’un recueil des Fleurs du Mal de Baudelaire, illustré par les Murals de San Francisco.

Vous pouvez trouver mes livres en ligne sur l’iBooks Store, en faisant la recherche à mon nom : Un manuel de Seconde : Le Théâtre Classique ; un conte illustré : Fanfreluche ; À paraître : Le Manuel de Français 1ere, qui couvre tout le programme préparé par les élèves pour les épreuves anticipés du BAC de Français de juin 2015.


By using iBooks to create textbooks, I found a way to make and share content that I had never used before. Building an electronic textbook allows me to gather all the ele-ments required for a class (texts, images, links to films, podcasts and blogs) and to or-ganize them with teaching in mind—all the

while nourishing a long-held passion to create books.In preparation for my Masters thesis, I worked on edit-

ing 18th-century texts, after which I interned twice in publishing houses: one at Éditions de l’Imprimerie Natio-nale (which follows ancient printing techniques that use lead-based characters), and another at Éditions Diane de Selliers, who edits books about art and literature. Each year she brings a great literary text back into popular awareness, illustrating it with a contemporary artistic medium. When I worked with her, we laid out Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” illustrating it with baroque paintings.

Thanks to those two internships and to handling and to adapting ancient texts, I held on to my love of fine pub-lishing, to laying out spreads, and to the use of images in bringing texts to life.

Creating textbooks for immediate use affords both my students and me great flexibility: I modify lessons based on student responses and suggestions, along with our collective generation of ideas. Particularly for peda-gogy, image generation is extremely important because it allows teachers to draw parallels with art history, to approach the text more organically, and to understand and retain its primary message more easily. For visual learners, it is essential. Furthermore, all documents are

gathered in the same medium: the iBook serves as a textbook, a notebook and a file folder. The user can take notes alongside the text, send them to an absent student, analyze images thanks to elaborate widgets, take quiz-zes, write lengthy texts and send them directly to teach-ers for comment or correction.

The benefit of creating a textbook over the course of the year is that I can infuse it with student work (summa-ries, essay excerpts, comments, presentations, creative writing or essays about art history, and analyses compar-ing texts vs. film), and thus promote collaborative work, which will crystalize as students prepare for the Bac exam in French literature.

To create the textbook, I use royalty-free texts and im-ages as much as possible. When that is not the case (for example, with 20th-century texts that become part of the public domain only after 70 years in France and 50 in the U.S.), I make note of them for editors and have to pay for the rights to publish them within a given iBook.

It is also easy to present time-sensitive projects digi-tally, which is how we created a book titled #JeSuisChar-lie (when the satirical periodical was attacked), which contained analyses of images, songs, and the drawings and reactions of students. Currently we are working on an iBook based on Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal, illus-trated by San Francisco murals.

You can find my textbooks by going to the Apple Store under iBooks, and searching for Le Théâtre Classique and Fanfreluche (an original fairy tale), both under my name. In addition, I will shortly publish a textbook that encompasses the 11th-grade Bac literature curriculum.

Employing 21st century technology to learn the art of bookmaking.


MARIE VOLTA, UPPER SCHOOL FRENCH

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professional development

“It’s really incumbent upon our faculty—and we see this happening—to help students develop the questioning possibilities and not look at what the answers are. Because the answers

are so much less relevant for now and the future than the questions will be.”judith glickman board of trustees

Stimulating Student CuriosityAn update on the California Academy of Sciences TISS Summer Program

The California Academy of Sciences selected five French American Lower School teach-ers from grades 3 to 5 to participate in its Teacher Institute on Science and Sustainabil-ity (TISS). This highly competitive program began in the summer of 2014, and will continue with a two-week internship in the

summer of 2015. In the program, teachers study con-cepts from the “Next Generation Science Standards.” During the school year, mentors from the Academy of Sciences also regularly visit and coach our teachers as they implement the program.

KAREN BOYLAN | GRADE 4/CM1TISS is a fabulous program for science educators. We

are learning how to enhance our science instruction by giving our students more opportunities for observing and sketching, making models, asking testable questions, de-signing and conducting experiments, and recording and interpreting results. These are the tools that real scien-tists use, and our students are very excited and engaged when they have a chance to use them too. Participating in the TISS program with my colleagues, field trips to the Academy of Sciences, the science nights for each grade and our new, well-equipped science lab make it an ex-citing time to be teaching science at French American!

ERICA KATZ | GRADE 5/CM2The TISS program at the Academy of Sciences has been

and continues to be quite inspiring in many ways. It is led by a dynamic group of instructors who model excel-lent teaching, explain new material clearly (such as the Next Generation Science Standards or specific science content), guide us in practicing new skills and planning

new lessons, and give time for reflection on how this new knowledge can be used in our classrooms. The real strength of the program seems to come from the fact that the instructors and the other teachers we’re working with are interesting and fun. The high level of academic challenge, the respect for teachers and students, and the excitement about the possibilities of science—these things are all big factors in what makes this program special. The coaching we receive at school to support our science lessons is the key link between the work we do at the Academy and the work we do here at school with the students. We are still learning... we don’t always know exactly how to implement what we’ve learned, but with the great support we get, we are trying new approaches to our science topics and seeing a lot of suc-cess with our students!

CATHERINE BOUCHER CM1 BLANC/SCIENCE COACH

I believe that the professional development offered by the Academy of Sciences delivers some of the best science instruction I have had in the past 20 years in the education arena. Among other things, the team of science coaches teaches us how to facilitate effec-tive debate with and among students. They also help us integrate engineering design concepts into science instruction. Over the different investigations, I observed students thinking deeply and creatively, trusting their own ideas and feeling encouraged to explore what is interesting to them. As a veteran teacher, I see the ben-efits in all of that. There is no doubt that this professional development offers not only the highest quality training but also provides a set of tools to help teachers cultivate a classroom atmosphere that stimulates curiosity and enhances student learning.


MARY EBRINGER | GRADE 4/CM1How have you applied concepts learned from the internship in your classroom today?

My colleagues and I look for opportunities to modify our current science units to include more of the NGSS eight practices. Rather than just emphasizing students’ absorption of content, more and more I encourage them to interact with content and push their thinking about science.

Whereas in the past I might have been quick to simply correct misconceptions, I now try to understand my students’ thought processes and encourage them to look critically at their own thinking.

How have you seen these concepts impact student learning?

Students are talking and writing more about science. They discuss their observations with one another to de-velop their ideas and engage in argumentation to defend their conclusions. For example, when studying states of matter, I presented my class with a non-Newtonian fluid. Based on their own previously developed descriptions

of solids, liquids, and gases, students engaged in lively debate about whether the substance was a solid or liquid or both.

My class is using science notebooks not just to take notes but to record data, make observations, sketch dia-grams, draw conclusions and reflect on their work. The notebooks are not just evidence of content learned, but of scientific thinking.

Tell us more about your continued partnership with the Academy of Sciences.

The TISS program has encouraged me to reflect carefully on my science teaching practices. Through observations and debriefing sessions with my advisor, I’ve come to look more closely at many aspects of my teaching—de-signing lessons, asking questions, prompting students to develop their ideas fully and holding them accountable for their arguments.

Do you have any additional thoughts on the program?

Many of the strategies and practices I’ve learned through the Academy apply not just to science but to other sub-ject areas—reading, writing, math, history.


“If we want to raise kids to be independent thinkers and change-makers, one of the best things we can do is give them the tools to figure stuff out for themselves.”

Allison Arieff, New York Times, April 3, 2015



design thinking

DesignStudents develop critical thinking skills by learning how things work.

Learning by



What Happens in the

doesn’t stay in the design lab.Design Lab...



French Consul Pauline Carmona enjoys a student demonstration on a visit to the new Upper School Design Lab.

OPPOSITE: Students display their inventions at the first annual Design Faire. RIGHT: Learning to use a soldering iron.

he Upper School Design Lab at 150 Oak Street opened its doors last fall, placing a variety of tools—like a 3D printer and a laser cutter—at the fingertips of our Upper School students. As is the case with all of our campus enhance-ments, we use those spaces and the tools they house to further our pedagogical strategy. It’s

never about the objects, but about the thinking, and in this case, design thinking. So what is it?

Design thinking is a method that aims to provide solu-tions to problems by combining creative and analytical approaches and by fostering collaboration across disci-plines. Designers must empathize with those for whom they design, and go through multiple iterations of a pos-sible solution to gain insights and refine it.

This past year, French American laid the foundation for a design tech curriculum, thanks to a visual arts class in the Middle School and 9th- and 10th-grade electives in the High School. With tentacles in the Design Lab and its Lower School cousin, the Tinker Space, design thinking aims to foster creative, iterative, collaborative problem-solving across disciplines. Following are snapshots of this year’s activities, including our schoolwide Design Faire on April 17. As we go into the 2015-16 academic year, the school is poised to expand our efforts schoolwide.

T

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Middle School Projects Bridge Design, Science and Art

Last fall our 8th graders learned about building struc-tures and their ability to withstand movement beneath them. Developed by teachers Barbara Abecassis, Elaine Molva and Xavier Le Renard, the “shake table test” underscored the intersection of design and science, and unfolded in phases. First, students built a shake table to simulate the movements generated by an earthquake and to measure four different types of seismic waves: P-waves, S-waves, Love waves and Raleigh waves (or lateral, vertical, undulated and all directions at once). Second, they used four sets of materials to build their structures: Legos, toothpicks and marshmallows, card games, and plastic straws to test the resistance of each of the materials when placed on the shake table that replicates the stresses created by an earthquake. Finally, the students put their structures to the test on the shake table, varying the types and force of its movements. Ex-cited, inquisitive 8th graders created a scale of intensity to measure how much they moved on the table, in ad-dition to noting the types of damage withstood by their structures. Afterward, they drew conclusions about why certain structures performed better than others in rela-tion to the height of a building, the size of its base, and the use of bracing to build the structures.

This spring the same trio of teachers crafted another interdisciplinary project that unfurled in phases. First, 8th graders studied kinetic and optical art to understand how the illusion of movement is produced; for example, they examined the kinetoscope, praxinoscope, zoetrope and flip book. Students then built a variety of sculptures and models to create movement with fixed images. In the second phase, centered on science, students dissect-

ed an eye in the design lab. They learned about retinal persistence and understood why and how our eyes perceive movement, relating the exercise back to the art-related lesson in the first phase. Finally, our middle school students designed toys for kids aged 3-6, with the stipulation that the toys must include a mechanical movement.

Transitional Design Project Ends Year on Perfect Note

In the Spring Semester of 2015, 5th and 6th-grade students collaborated in a cross-disciplinary project involving Design, Music, Technology, and Science. Together, they created a digital music instrument known as a monome using Makey Makey, a technology kit for turning everyday objects into touchpads.

Organized into three phases, the first step of the proj-ect involved product design. In their Art & Design class, 6th graders used the laser cutter and 3D modeling soft-ware to create a prototype of their digital instruments. The second phase involved Computer Science and Elec-tronics. Both 5th and 6th graders learned about the dif-ferent electronic components found in a monome, such as NeoPixels, LED lights, conductive materials, jumpers, cables, wires, and resistors. They also used the soldering iron to build an electrical circuit and SCRATCH, a mul-timedia authoring tool, to program their sounds. Their work culminated in Phase 3 as the sounds of their digital instrument debuted in an audiovisual performance that closed out the school year.

Design Faire DazzlesOn April 17, for the first time ever, students in grades

3-12 hosted a Design Faire to showcase projects cre-ated in our Design Lab and Tinker Space. The layout of this exhibition was organized around various design topics, spotlighting our community of interdisciplinary, experimental, innovative, and forward-looking thinkers. Topics included architecture, sustainability, game design, fashion design, movement, lighting, technology, prod-ucts and models, and graphics.

Some projects showed the effects and impact of technology on our lives, while others explored differ-ent ways to collect and use the sun’s energy to improve the efficiency and performance of a design. Students on hand proudly explained their design process and the motivation behind their ideas, including a “tech rest in bed” or a “solar collector” (see pictures). An interactive station with different tools and supplies was even set up to engage visitors in creating their own design. In addition, a brainstorming activity area was displayed to encourage people to share their ideas and design think-ing approaches. Participants crowded our Community Space, which was abuzz with creative energy!

Three Friends of STEM meetings were organized dur-ing the 2013-2014 academic year with attendance from parents in all sections of the schools. Highlights included a keynote presentation by Puragra (Raja) Guhathakurta, professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz and Head of the summer Science Internship Program, an intervention from Marcus Wojtkowiak, the Director of the Randall Science Museum Middle School Science Fair (a special thank you to senior Marc Robert Wong for making these connections) and a discus-sion panel on design thinking and the creative process including Nathan Shedroff and Natalie Blavin-Kakone from the California College of the Arts, Lucinda Lee Katz and Matt Levinson from Marin Country Day School, and Barbara Abecassis and Joel Cohen from International High School.

The first event of the 2014-2015 academic year was dedicated to Design Technology, with presentations from our faculty and from Giles Thompson, teacher at Lick-Wilmerding High School. The second event was centered on a Lower School Science Night, and show-cased the new programs that had been started this year with our younger students. The final event took place on May 7, and focused on adding the arts in STEM to make it STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math-ematics).

Friends of STEMscience, technology, engineering, mathematics and the design arts

Parent Support Enhances STEM in the High SchoolJOEL COHEN, HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

One of the school’s priorities, set three years ago, was the enhancement of our STEM programs. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and implies taking science out of the classroom to create interdisciplinary opportunities for our students to experiment with motivating

and stimulating project-based experiments. A number of initiatives were subsequently launched, including an up-per school science club aiming at preparing students for science fair competitions, a middle school robotics club (French American Creates), opportunities for high school students to learn coding, a new science space in the lower school, design and tinkering programs, and more.

The response from our parent community was over-whelmingly positive, and we were thrilled to receive so many offers of help from families who wanted to contribute to the enhancement of our programs. So we launched a parent support group in Spring 2013 to serve as a platform to share our initiatives with the community, to brainstorm new ideas, and to benefit from the exper-tise and connections many of our parents have in the ar-eas of STEM, High Tech, Design and Innovation. Friends of STEM was born and the planning of events started with the help of Robert Evans, parent of two French American students, who offered to lead the group.

Au carrefour des sciences et du designPAR JULIEN ASTRUC

Galilée. Père de la science moderne ? Il y a peut-être matière à débattre mais force est de constater que depuis le XVIIème siècle la science a été une promesse de progrès. Progrès scientifique, technique et même social.

Au XIXème siècle, l’étude des machines à vapeur a permis l’avènement de la thermodynamique qui a dans la foulée révolutionné l’industrie, la théorie de l’électromagnétisme développée par Maxwell est à l’origine de la plupart des technologies massivement utilisées encore aujourd’hui. Le GPS que nous utilisons tous n’aurait pu voir le jour sans les travaux d’Albert Einstein sur la relativité restreinte.

La science et les technologies sont partie prenante aujourd’hui de notre vie, elles génèrent encore des attentes, de la curiosité mais depuis plusieurs années, elles suscitent aussi de la méfiance. La science serait-elle encore synonyme de progrès ?

Alors que les métiers de demain feront la part belle aux disciplines scientifiques, en Europe comme aux Etats-Unis, ces mêmes filières ont des difficultés à attirer les étudiants.

Les défis de demain seront tels qu’il n’est pas étonnant de voir des compagnies comme Google, Siemens ou encore Intel offrir la possibilité aux jeunes étudiants du

monde entier de participer à leurs Science Fair. Volonté bien sûr de promouvoir la recherche, la science et l’ingénierie, les sciences sociales mais aussi de pouvoir faire émerger les idées géniales de demain.

Comme de très nombreux élèves d’autres écoles, plusieurs de nos étudiants ont participé cette année à de telles compétitions de science. Neuf élèves du collège ont défendu leurs projets au Randall Museum Science Fair avec au passage les 1er, 2ème et 3ème prix pour nos élèves de 6ème.

Quant aux élèves du Science Club, six d’entre eux participaient au très sélectif San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair (SFBASF) qualificatif pour le Intel Science Fair et le California State Science Fair.

De nombreux prix leur ont été décernés avec notamment une 1ère et 2ème place attribuées respectivement à Amely Joly (détection du diabète par polarisation de la lumière) et à Sophia Clark (Détecteur de pression avec de la poudre de graphite) qui se sont vues inviter à participer au California State Science Fair de Los Angeles les 18 et 19 Mai.

Les recherches scientifiques faites et les compétitions passées, quelle vie donner à ces projets ? Plusieurs de ces élèves ont décidé de passer à une autre phase créative, saisissant l’opportunité d’utiliser toutes les ressources du design tech lab et de l’expertise de



Barbara Abecassis. C’est une opportunité unique pour nos élèves de comprendre toutes les étapes de la réalisation d’un projet, de l’idée de départ jusqu’à la réalisation d’un produit fini mettant en valeur leur travail de recherche.

De la science au design, mais aussi du design à la science. Apprendre à développer et à enrichir l’utilité d’un objet. Il a été remarquable au cours de cette année de constater le va et vient régulier des élèves entre les salles de science et le design tech lab.

Nos élèves l’ont compris, science et créativité n’ont pas vocation à se tourner le dos mais à interagir et s’enrichir. Design et Science, Science et Design...mariage réussi !

The Intersection of Science and DesignWas Galileo the father of modern science? While the

claim is debatable, it goes without question that since the 17th century science has held the promise of prog-ress—scientific, technical, and even social.

In the 19th century, the study of the steam engine gave birth to thermodynamics, which immediately revolution-ized industry. Indeed, Maxwell’s theory of electromagne-tism laid the foundation for most of today’s technological breakthroughs. For example, GPS, which we all use, would not have seen the light of day without Einstein’s work on restrained relativity.

Science and technology are part and parcel of our daily lives. They still generate curiosity and great ex-pectations, but in recent years they have also raised suspicion. Is science still synonymous with progress? While tomorrow’s jobs will place science center-stage in Europe and the United States, the same sector will have a difficult time attracting students.

Given the nature of tomorrow’s challenges, it makes sense that companies such as Google, Siemens, and

even Intel would offer young students from all over the world the opportunity to participate in their science fairs. Of course, they would like to promote science and engi-neering, research and the social sciences, but they also aim to spark tomorrow’s brilliant ideas.

Like so many students in other schools, several of our students participated in such fairs this year. Nine middle school students presented their projects at the Randall Museum Science Fair, with 6th graders earning first, second and third place.

With regard to students in the Science Club, six are participating in the highly selective San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair (SFBASF), qualifying them for both the Intel and California State Science Fairs. Several have received awards, most notably first and second places to Amely Joly and Sophia Clark for, respectively, a de-vice that detects diabetes thanks to the polarization of light, and another that detects high blood pressure with graphite powder. Both participated in the California State Science Fair in Los Angeles on May 18-19.

With all scientific research completed and with the science fairs past, what will become of these projects? Several students decided to continue on to another cre-ative phase, taking full advantage of the resources of the Design Lab and the expertise of Barbara Abecassis. It’s a unique opportunity for our students to understand all the stages of completing a project: from the inception of an idea to the creation of a final product, bringing their research to fruition.

Science in design, and design in science... learning how to develop and improve the utility of an object. Over the course of this year, it was remarkable to see the constant flow of students from the Science Wing to the Design Lab. Our students understood that science and creativity cannot turn their backs on one another, but should instead interact and enrich one another. Science and design are, without a doubt, the perfect match!


Eighth-Grade Student Uses Design Lab to Prototype a Yo-YoEighth-grade student Elliot Irving loves to yo-yo. This past summer Elliot took the hobby a step further and de-cided to design his very own unresponsive yo-yo. “It’s a yo-yo meant for tricks,” says Elliot, “and it doesn’t come up when you tug on it. It requires a bind to come up.” On a road trip to Washington, Elliot’s family took a detour and stopped in Eugene, Oregon to visit a yo-yo company called One Drop. “I got a tour of their manufacturing facility, and they explained how all the machines worked and what the process was. When I told them that I had designed my own yo-yo, they were thrilled. They helped me make some tweaks, such as widening areas, replacing bearing seats, etc. It was awesome.”

As soon as Elliot found out there was a 3D printer at school, he had a project in mind. “I was so excited and the first thing that popped into my head was to prototype the yo-yo.” Elliot spent his lunchtime in the school’s brand-new design lab with his Design Tech teacher Barbara Abecassis to design and engineer his own yo-yo. “He built it in 3D cad,” says Abecassis, “and we used the 3D printer to test it as a prototype.” When asked about the toy he designed, Elliot says, “I am really happy with the shape I designed, as I had no idea what it would feel like in hand. The next step is to machine it out of aluminum!”



CATHERINE BOUCHER | CM1 AND SCIENCE COACH

Students love exploring the mysterious un-knowns in science. They could ask ques-tions and seek answers to explain the world around them for days. When something inter-ests them, they are more likely to remember it. Teachers know instinctively that curiosity is fundamental; they know that by nourishing

curious minds, the students will demonstrate the desire to learn. The Science Lab provides the right environ-ment to do just that. This extension of the classroom is a place that piques the students’ curiosity, develops more hands-on learning opportunities and promotes scientific inquiry.

The GoalThe lower school science lab is a space where ev-

ery teacher and student alike can together explore all the endless questions about how the world works. It’s a place where inquiring minds meet long-term learn-ing goals. As the Next Generation Science Standards Appendix A states: “All students no matter what their future education and career path must have a solid K–12 science education in order to be prepared for college, careers, and citizenship.”

A Place to Ask QuestionsAs Dr. Malaia, Assistant Professor at the Southwest

Center for Mind, Brain and Education states: “Curiosity really is one of the very intense and very basic impulses in humans. We should base education on this behavior.” Without a doubt, curiosity is a powerful learning tool—perhaps the most powerful of all—and students have so many questions to ask. Most children love to play in the sand and the dirt: what are they made of? The universe fascinates others: how do shadows work? Children like to splash (water is fun): what would happen to the sea level if all the icebergs in the ocean melted? Volcanoes fascinate older students: how can a 10-year-old construct a definition of the concepts of lava flow and viscosity?

Understanding the world that surrounds them is the biggest puzzle ever for children. The science lab as an extension of the classroom is a place where every stu-dent can find an opportunity to question the world, and to seek answers to explain it.

A Place to Find AnswersWhen the students enter the science lab, they want to

learn by doing something. For that reason, the room is versatile enough for a variety of activities: the flip-top ta-ble adapts easily to allow for more space; there are plen-ty of surfaces for all kinds of projects; and it is equipped with microscopes, science kits and categorized supplies. The capabilities of the science lab are extensive. From the four corners of the room students’ questions arise. They are thinking, analyzing, observing, using tools, lis-tening to each other, answering the teacher’s questions, making connections, collecting data, using mathemat-ics and, most importantly, are avid in learning more. The science lab provides valuable opportunities for any teacher to help students build knowledge.

A Place for CommunityMoreover, the science lab is also a community space

where students can discuss plans and work collab-oratively to explore their inquiries. They also prepare themselves and present their work to their classmates. These activities not only foster collaboration among children, they also help develop language and literacy skills, inherently leading to a sense of community among the children.

The famous educator and philosopher Paolo Freire once said: “There could be no creativity without the curiosity that moves us and sets us patiently impatient before a world that we did not make.” With curiosity in mind, students will learn at heart—and perhaps, some-day, add something to this world of their own making.

How the new lower school science lab fosters a love for learning.With curiosity in mind, students take learning to heart

lower school science


Interactive and contagiously informative science nights focus on the role of women in science .Science and Community

This year the Lower School hosted three sci-ence nights: the 5th grade showcased life sciences (human body in February), the 3rd grade spotlighted the physical sciences (force and motion in March), and the 4th grade focused on Earth science (astronomy in April). While interactive and contagiously informa-

tive, these thematic science nights were about much more than science. Last year two science showcases took place in the afternoon, and anyone who could help chipped in.

This year, the Lower School administration actively collaborated with Friends of STEM to seek out experts in the respective fields, and both agreed to push back the event times to encourage a greater turnout.

With regard to recruiting volunteers, the organizers paid special attention to the role of women in science. At the 5th-grade night in February, five medical students from UCSF (all women) offered their expertise with regard to four systems of the human body: the respira-tory system, organs and skulls, genes and cells, and DNA. For the 3rd-grade physical sciences night, the Lower School recruited four graduate students from UC Berkeley’s Society of Women in Physics. That women played center-stage at these engaging nights sends a clear message to all young students: anyone can specialize in fields once considered to be primarily the do-main of men.

For the 4th-grade astronomy night, San Francisco Amateur Astronomers was in-vited to work with us on the content. The volunteers delivered a great presentation about the solar system. They also offered different hands-on activities, in collabora-tion with some Lower and Upper School teachers. The highlight of the night was the opportunity to look at the stars from the roof of our school through telescopes.

While the Lower School and Friends of STEM sought experts beyond our campus, they also mined our own community for resources, and both parents and students came through. One parent volunteer for the 3rd-grade science night, Heather

McDonald, wears multiple prosthetic legs (including one for daily use and another for running) and brought them in to demonstrate biomechanics in action. At the 5th-grade science night, another parent, Heidi Bjornsen, used the expertise gained as a result of her two children’s debilitating respiratory disease to explain how certain factors can affect breathing. Likewise, Amanda Kirby ac-tively led Friends of STEM’s collaboration with the Lower School, herself volunteering in February, supporting the 5th-grade night. Students from the upper school were recruited for the physics night as chaperones to their 3rd-grade counterparts (Camille and Iona from 8th and Tristan from 6th) and as an assistant presenter (William Propp, 10th). Closing the circle was Faustine Dufka ‘08, one of the UCSF med students who volunteered at the life sciences night, who not only exemplifies the success of our science program, but also serves as an inspiration for future generations of students.

One parent told Lower School Principal Marie-Pierre Carlotti that the 5th-grade science night was the best community event she had ever attended at French American. It underscored the importance of science, and the school community displayed the richness that col-laboration yields.


the tinker space

Tinker /tiNGk r/ n. to make small changes to something in order to improve or repair it.e

What is Tinkering ?

The Lower School has been brainstorming about a “Makerspace” since last year. The team, led by the Academic Technology Di-rector, Seth Hubbert and the LS Curriculum Coordinator, Ellen Burdge, librarian, Karine Luguet, and LS Tech coordinator, Philippe Charpantier, took on the challenge to create a

new space dedicated to tinkering and making.Tinkering is about hands-on experiences, experiment-

ing, learning from failures, solving problems in an unstructured time in order to explore, invent and inno-vate. Tinkering is very captivating and engaging since it overlaps with so many areas such as science, design, art, engineering and technology, so crucial to a 21st-century education.

We wanted to start as an extra-curricular space to experiment with projects in a playful and creative way. Students would develop manipulative skills, collaborate on group projects appealing to both boys and girls.

Starting in November of 2014, 4th- and 5th-grade students could sign up daily to come to the Tinker Space during their lunch recess. Later on, an after school ses-sion dedicated to 3rd graders was added.

Karine and Philippe visited schools, Maker Faires, the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratori-um, and creative reuse centers such as SCRAP and Recology. They started collecting recy-clable material from the school and through parent donations. They also exchanged with local educators and started crafting a program offering short-term projects as well as on-going activities.

Some successful projects included disassem-bling obsolete digital equipment in order to create signage for the Tinker Space, building a cardboard city, doll-houses and automata (moving mechanical object). The Tinker Band rocked the space playing cardboard instru-ments with a Makey Makey, a circuit board turning objects into touchpads. Paper and squishy circuits, alligator clips, copper tape, LED lights, Marble Run and glue guns became part of a new inspiring vocabulary.

As the Tinker Space became more and more popu-lar, teachers got curious and interested. Many teachers visited the Tinker Space while in session. The goal is now to make a long-term bridge between classroom and in-terdisciplinary projects and the Tinker Space, which has already started! For example, 4th-graders created models of the digestive system, and 5th-graders participated in the Air Project Challenge, coordinated with the Science Coach. 2nd- and 5th-graders experimented with paper circuits for an art project. We hope to expand such ini-tiatives to the other grades next year.

The icing on the cake was delivered on April 17th, during the Design Faire, a schoolwide event showcasing upper school student projects realized in the Design Lab under the direction of Art and Design Teacher, Barbara Abecassis, and lower school student projects from the Tinker Space led by Philippe Charpantier and Karine Luguet.

The Design Faire was an engaging, interactive and successful event. We were all very proud to witness our students presenting their projects with dedication and pride. Time to inspire innovation!

REDISCOVERING THE PHYSICAL WORLDMatilda Holtz, 7 Red, learns how a garment is created by creating one herself, using an old-

fashoned tool: the sewing machine.


Located in the heart of the Bay Area, French American is immersed not only in two languages but also in an international hub of innovation. Our community is exposed to a barrage of technological trends, not all of which stick. In this environment, astute educators must evaluate a plethora of learn-ing tools and methods to determine which will enhance rather than crowd pedagogy.

Such has been the case with coding in the Lower School. While myriad educational articles have extolled the values of coding, implementing it in the classroom across a variety of subjects remains an issue to be man-aged with care. The Academic Tech Team (Seth Hub-bert, Diane Sands and Philippe Charpantier) along with Lower School Director of Teaching and Learning Ellen Burdge and Lower School Science Coordinator Cath-erine Boucher have been doing just that—in keeping with trends and at the behest of many parents, including Friends of STEM.

In January, the team of five attended a training spon-sored by Code.org, which “has developed an elementary school curriculum that allows even the youngest stu-dents to explore the limitless world of computing—at no cost for schools. The courses blend online, self-guided and self-paced tutorials with ‘unplugged’ activities that require no computer at all” (code.org/educate/k5). Clearly developed by educators, the curriculum works

in tandem with both Common Core math standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Per Ellen Burdge, “When we returned from the January training, we met as a team to find connections between coding and our current work in the classroom.”

On the one hand, the team examined where teachers were already using the coding tenets of logic, reason, and computational thinking organically. On the other, they explored ways to further expand that type of think-ing across disciplines. At a faculty meeting at the end of March, the team led teachers in offline activities that exemplified the thinking required to code, specifically the use of conditionals (such as if/then statements and causes and effects).

Not built to code... but challenged to think.The Academic Technology Team explores ways to organically incorporate coding instruction into the core curriculum

“We’ve gone from a very traditional classroom structure – and this is happening throughout the educational system – into an environment in which much more flexibility and fluidity of space and teaching methods is the way things are going to

happen. And our spaces need to reflect that. We need to be able to support the programmatic

changes that we’re making. We’ve learned a tremendous amount about how kids learn.”

tex schenkkanboard of trustees

lower school coding


Until recently, coding was only offered after school. In 2013-14, Philippe Charpantier taught two after-school classes (three sessions each): Minecraft & Beyond and Intro to Programming and Game Design. This year he offered a total of 10 sessions. During a winter session, a parent noted that she would need to take the class in order to understand what her daughter was learning. Philippe extended the invitation to both parents, who joined their daughter in the next class.

During parent-teacher conferences last year, students were offered one coding workshop. This year, two were offered along with two junior engineering workshops. In the spring of 2014, coding became part of the lower school curriculum itself; this year, all students in grades


1-5 participated in Hour of Code.This summer, our Lower School team will build on the

organic connections it has already made in the class-room. With a gradual increase in curricular and after-school offerings, and thanks to the promotion of teacher awareness around code-related thinking and its multidis-ciplinary applications, coding is here to stay.

As was the case with the implementations of the iPad program in the middle school and the flipped classroom in the high school, French American and International faculty are concerned foremost with how our students think, rather than coding per se. While the delivery methods change, honing the ability to think critically in-sures that our students will thrive well beyond our walls.


Laos60 | LA LETTRE JUNE 2015


service learning

High School students experience total cultural immersion in remote Laotian village

International High School students participated in a truly unique Service Learning and Global Travel trip in February 2015. Accompanied by Director of Travel Pro-grams Raquel Constenla and Math Teacher Nathan Bridge, ten students traveled to Northern Laos to construct a clay eco-bungalow in Ban Nong Khuay, a village of ethnic minorities just south of the World Heritage town of Luang Prabang.

The ExperienceAfter arriving in Luang Prabang, the students trekked through the Laotian jungle to

reach the village in which they experienced complete cultural immersion. Hosted by local families, the students lived and ate like the villagers and relinquished certain first-world amenities, such as indoor plumbing. There was no sugarcoating the experience—they completely soaked in the lifestyle and culture. What the families had for lunch, the students had for lunch. How and when the families slept, they did, too.

The ProjectAt the work site, students learned about the clay building process and immediately

rolled up their sleeves to begin their work in earnest. With their hands, they mixed clay to build brick that would eventually become a tourist destination and a source of income for this small, remote village.

Like other villages in the area, the people of Ban Nong Khuay have long made their living from agriculture; but without basic infrastructure, the locals also see a need for alternative income, such as that generated through small-scale and sustainable tourism. Inspired by the Tea House Trek in Nepal, clay bungalows are being built along a trail



connecting other nearby Laotian villages, providing tour-ists with an adventure literally off the beaten path. The eco-bungalows, in return, provide village communities, such as Ban Nong Khuay, with additional income. The project, made possible by volunteers, began in the fall of 2013 and is expected to be complete in April 2016.

The AdventureAfter their construction work on an eco-bungalow in

the village of Ban Nong Khuay, the students visited the Kuang Si waterfalls (after yet another jungle trek), toured the UNESCO town of Luang Prabang, and concluded the trip with a ride down the Mekong River.

A Priceless MomentBy Lorenz Menéndez, Grade 10

Laos, a landlocked country of 8 million people in Southeast Asia, is one of the most magnificent places I have ever visited. The people are very friendly and welcoming with open arms. The most unforgettable part of the trip was the village experience. Living with the villagers was remarkable, insightful and funny. We did not speak the same language, nor have the same cus-toms, but we had more in common than I thought. We were able to communicate with them by making exag-gerated gestures, like an ever-lasting game of charades. My roommate and I realized at that moment that even

though we could not ask them basic questions such as “what’s your name?” or “how many people are in your family?”, we were still able to communicate our emo-tions to our host very easily, since every human, no matter where he or she comes from, shares the same feelings.

By the end of our stay, I felt so integrated with my host family that I started referring to them as my par-ents: “What did you guys have for breakfast?” someone might ask. I would simply respond, “My mother made me some steamed rice with vegetables and an instant soup.” Or, “Hey, look! That’s my dad going off to the rice fields!” It was very gloomy to leave the village on the last day, simply because I became very attached to simple village life. I enjoyed the dirt floor in our house, the mul-titudes of animals wandering happily about the village with their offspring in tow, seeing children play with real toys instead of iPads, and seeing the entire community come together to help each other.

Many of my friends ask me: “Why do you love to travel?” I love to travel for the priceless moments that I encounter wherever I go. In Laos, staying with my host family and bonding with my classmates were the most invaluable moments. When I traveled to Ethiopia last year, I enjoyed bonding with the children in another rural village, teaching them English words, and playing soccer with them. Next year I hope to go on another adventure with our school and find the next priceless moment!

global travel

There’s nothing like being there.


RAQUEL CONSTENLA OUTGOING DIRECTOR OF THE TRAVEL PROGRAM

La filosofía de la escuela es a preparar los es-tudiantes para un futuro en el que tienen que aprender a comunicarse a través de culturas diferentes. Entonces no hay nada mejor que el estudiante vaya a un país, que experimente la cultura de primera mano y si es posible, como hacemos en los intercambios, que conviva con

un joven de su propia edad de un país diferente. Además de eso les permite la oportunidad de ver cómo funcio-nan las cosas en otros lugares y de esa manera poder valorar las diferencias y ver también los puntos comunes que hay con personas de otras culturas. Por supuesto que favorece la independencia cuando un estudiante se va ya de la mano de su padre y de su madre y tiene

que (en un entorno en que el que están protegidos por los profesores acompañantes pero más solo en el otro lugar tienen también que) aprender a salir por sí mismo a tomar decisiones.

The mission of the school is to prepare students for a world in which communication across cultures is of paramount importance. For a student, there’s nothing better than going to a country, experiencing its culture firsthand and, if possible, as we do with our exchanges, to live with a student of the same age. This also gives students the opportunity to see how things function in other places, and thus appreciate difference but also see similarities with people of other cultures. Of course, when students leave their parents’ wings, they have to learn to strike out on their own and to make decisions.


Malawi GRADES 9–11

International High School faculty chaperones John Bray and Minakshi Capur led a group of adventurous students and sports enthusiasts on the school’s first-ever trip to Malawi. The trip was unusual in that it combined athletics with cultural learning: the students experienced the vibrant culture and geography of southeastern Africa, as well as participating in soccer matches against international schools and local teams.

The group learned about native customs and the Chichewa language, and contributed their efforts to several local initiatives: house construction for villagers, and teaching, reading and coaching with local children. They had the opportunity to enjoy Malawi’s natural beauty at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cape Maclear, where they played a soccer match against Cape Maclear Primary School. Time was also allotted for recreation, including snorkeling in Lake Malawi, and looking for hippos in the Shire River.


This year seven 9th and 10th graders were chosen to experience a two-week immer-sion in the French Polynesian lifestyle and culture. Our first activity was a tour of the

island, where we swam in waterfalls, black sand beaches, and rivers. The rest of the days consisted of horseback riding, traditional Tahitian kayaking, making our own perfumes and soap (pictured above), going to the Musée de la Perle, eating poisson cru, a traditional Polynesian dish, and getting a lesson in Tahitian dancing. A highlight of this trip was visiting Moorea, a neighboring island of Tahiti, where we swam with sharks and sting rays, and were given a live presentation on how to open a coconut.

We had an amazing two weeks, filled with unex-pected surprises and adventures. As we leave Tahiti with our Tahitian-French accent, we say goodbye and mauruuru, Tahiti. – Gillian Kelley, 10th Grade IB

International’s 2015 India trip explored the north of the country. Faculty chaperones Julien Astruc and Michelle Haner accompanied the students from Kolkata (Calcutta) to Delhi over the course

of two weeks, experiencing India through its cuisine, music and arts, and learning about its position as one of the IT capitals of the world.

The itinerary included a visit to Mother Teresa’s home and orphanage in Kolkata, Darjeeling (famous for its tea industry), and a few days in the Himalayan hills near the Nepalese border at Sandhakphu. After travel-ing through West Bengal, the group journeyed to the fantastic city of Varanasi, the holiest city in India, and one of the oldest cities in the world.

Before reaching the Taj Mahal and Delhi, the group stopped at Khajuraho to discover its famous temples.

facebook.com/internationalindiatrip2015

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TAHITI GRADES 9–10 INDIA GRADE 11


GALAPAGOS GRADES 9–11 SWITZERLAND GRADES 9–11

In the footsteps of Charles Darwin and the Beagle, International High School students traveled to the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Fac-ulty chaperones Mauricio Albrizzio and Catherine

Brown led the students on a remarkable journey for a close-up peek at this highly protected ecosystem.

The students traveled to the islands of Santa Cruz, where they visited the Charles Darwin Research Sta-tion in Puerto Ayora. On San Cristóbal they volun-teered at the Hacienda Tranquila, where they worked removing an invasive species of blackberry bush and planting a native plant, Lecocarpus darwinni, to restore the ecosystem for the tortoises.

Back in Quito, the group toured the UNESCO World Heritage colonial center of the Ecuadorian capital before heading to the Cotopaxi volcano, where they climbed to a 15,000-foot refuge to witness firsthand volcanic geology and glaciations.

The highlight of our first day was a visit to the Basel Paper Mill, where we learned about the history of paper and the paper-making process. For over 400 years the process in-

volved a mix of cellulose, water, glue, and linen rags, and under the instruction of the mill staff, we made our own sheets employing these old techniques. Using a strainer with a wooden frame (pictured above),we collected the pulp into the correct shape, then used a presser to dry out the wet sheets.

The mill was once used by monks who had no way of writing things down, as there was no paper in Basel. When a paper-making family came to Basel from Italy, the monks employed them to repurpose twelve corn mills into paper mills, which ended up creating the best paper in Europe at the time. Paper took up to two months to make, which is why 50 pieces of paper could cost as much as a small half-house in the center of Basel.


global citizens

INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS UNITE NATIONSBY CONOR FAY ‘17

This past March, six highly motivated individuals travelled to New York to take part in the UNIS-UN conference. The group consisted of five sophomores (Simon Chanezon, Barbara de Alfaro, Lorenz Menéndez, Matilde Macieira-Kauffman, and Conor Fay), as well

as one junior (Sara Fay). When asked to describe the event, Matilde said it was “(G)inspirational.” Scott Paton graciously assumed the role of tour guide and showed the group around the big city, as well as sitting in on the conferences alongside the delegates.

The students are all members of the Global Issues Network (GIN) club and elected to participate in the UNIS-UN conference in order to help plan and prepare for the GIN conference to be held at International High School this fall. The representatives first met at United

Nations International School for a day of guided discus-sion, welcoming ceremonies, and an introductory ban-quet. The students branched off into different classrooms and worked to develop and discuss answers for a set of questions regarding climate control. The conference itself was held the following two days, where 700 representa-tives from five different continents listened to various speakers discuss the topic of sustainability. The first day, students heard from four speakers: Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon who gave the opening remarks, then Ms. Amina Mohammed encouraged the representatives to serve as “torchbearers” to their generation in an effort to help build a more sustainable world. They then heard from Georg Kell on how creating policy initiatives can help ensure sustainability for businesses. To conclude the first day of lectures the group heard from Ms. Jennifer Siebel Newsom regarding women’s rights. On the sec-ond day of conferences, Hans K. Rolling gave a statistical presentation about our world’s population. In addition to this, the group heard from Mr. Joel K. Bourne, a writer for National Georgraphic. Overall, the group found the conference to be both (G)INteresting, and (G)INtriguing.

Building Bridges



“There’s one thing in our mission statement that is really quite unique, and that is the ability to communicate across cultures. We need people like our graduates to help ameliorate

the frictions between the cultures, religions, and peoples of the world.”john cate board of trustees

Global Issues Network (GIN) is an orga-nization that supports youth who are involved in local projects addressing the problems our world faces. GIN was in-spired by Jean-François Rischard’s book, High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them (2002).

Rischard’s book underscores the urgency for immediate action. Global Issues Network conferences provide a fo-rum in which students can share their passion for solving global issues with people beyond their local communi-ties. Each year, GIN brings together students, teachers, experts, NGOs, and representatives from educational organizations. During the conference, participants pres-ent, teach, and spread the word about global issues and the innovative actions they take to create sustainable change.

In our conference students from local, national, and international schools will not only be hearing great keynote speakers, but also presenting their own initia-tives aimed at creating sustainable change. To show-case the unique identity of our school and our city, the

International High School Students Are Building Bridges

International High School will be hosting a Global Issues Network conference on our campus in San Francisco, on November 6-7, 2015

conference will further include parallel events such as a concert, an art exhibition and workshop, a science fair, a tour, and a short film festival on LGBT rights.

We are excited to become a part of Global Issues Network, as have 500 schools around the world. We invite you to make a difference by sharing your project at our conference! For more information, go to: globalissuesnetwork.org/internationalsf15


TEDxYouth

On December 6, 2014, International High School students hosted their first-ever TEDxYouth conference. Entirely student-produced, the event featured student and guest speakers alike. Members of the audi-ence praised students for a well run event

full of thoughtful presentations. We asked co-producer Hannah van Aelstyn to elaborate.

Where did the idea to participate in a TEDx conference originate?

International High School has a fantastic student body, constantly buzzing with debates, ideas, and original thought. It’s a unique place in that young people gather to discuss their passions openly. While our students have that space at school, our society too frequently doesn’t carve a space for young people to share our thoughts with the wider world, or even take the minds of young people seriously. TEDxYouth was born of this realization and the desire to craft an event in which young people could share their passions on a global stage, beyond the classroom and conversation among students.

To what extent were you able to work autonomously?

The school administration worked with us in the best way we could have asked for in that they imposed no separate agenda to our event, did not attempt to take over the planning themselves, and did not insist on interfering with any of the plans we made. Instead, they opened themselves to any help we asked for and made clear that they were available for anything we might need. As a result, all of the planning was done entirely by students, and we were able to work with the admin-istration when necessary to discuss contacts, dates, and the like. It was liberating, and we were grateful that they entrusted us with the responsibility of planning the event; it granted us creative freedom and also forced us to take on a more mature project than what we are usu-ally asked to do in school.

How did you choose the presenters? Could you discuss their range of topics?

Our presenters came from a wide range of backgrounds. They had passions they wanted to share with the world, but had not necessarily had the opportunity to commu-nicate. Alejandro spoke about his proactive involvement with the Khan Academy Lab School, and his conviction that youth already have the relevant skills necessary to succeed in the adult world; Laura wanted to convey her ideas about the misconceptions about women in sci-ence and, as a scientist herself, propose ways to increase women’s participation; Sherman wanted to share his own Buddhist-inspired life philosophy that has helped

him succeed in his own life; Eliana wanted to share what about the study of Classics she found so interesting and relevant in the modern world; Claire wanted to illumi-nate us on the torturous practices youth are subjected to in solitary confinement. Other presenters we sought out personally, being aware of the unique ideas they had to share but may not have even been taught were worth sharing; this was the case for Rosy, who delivered a delightfully provocative and fresh talk on why she thinks the Barbie doll should be a tool of feminism instead of being demonized by the movement.

What did you learn from your experience?

One of the most surprising things we learned was just how much bureaucracy and detail orientation it takes to get anything done. The sheer volume of emails we wrote, small print we read, and contracts we investi-gated was at times overwhelming. In doing so, however, we discovered how much work is done behind the scenes for almost everything we take for granted, from events we attend to establishments we frequent. We also learned how difficult but rewarding it can be to work with many people with varying backgrounds and expectations of cultural norms; communication was at times difficult, but in working to try to accommodate the needs of all, our eyes were opened to the dignity in the perspectives of others we may not have understood or given thought to before. The same is true for the content of the presentations.

What would you tell students interested in producing/presenting in future TEDx conferences?

Besides doing it, I would tell students to have patience, and do the best they can possibly do. Being responsible for creating an effective event or presentation is more work than people often realize, especially before they begin the process. It can be easy to do the bare mini-mum, but you have the capacity to create something memorable and amazing, so seize that. Some of the best advice we got at the beginning of this process was that the value of a good event is in the details. For presenters, the eye-contact with the audience is what makes a good talk. For producers, it’s the attention to the attendee’s ex-perience and the personal touch in communication, the publicizing through word of mouth, and attention to the resources you already have. Don’t ignore these details. Start with huge ambition and tailor it down; it’ll leave you with a more successful end-product.

Whatever future students do with the production, we know it will be unique to them. The personality of the speakers and producers will come through in the most unexpected ways. It’s all part of what makes the spirit of the event so exciting!


Co-Producers: Joe Hamilton and Hannah van Aelstyn. Presenters: Larson Holt, Sherman Tylawsky, Daniel Mendelson, Julian Sat-Vollhardt, Rosemary Lane, Laura Campbell, Marc Robert-Wong, Claire Moazed, Eliana Henrich, Alejandro Poler,

and non-students Fiona Hovenden and Plern Pratoommas. Host: Nicolai Sutter Sponholtz.


There Are No Races KAYLA STEELE | ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

This project was meant to evoke the feeling that there is no such thing as “races." With all the recent events in Ferguson and other similar cases, I wanted to create a project that shows that no one should be considered a different group solely by the genes they show. No assumptions should be made, as there are no differences that actually separate us into another race. I tried to make the woman depicted in the painting seem as though she was created with puzzle pieces that each fit together to make a whole person, and without one it would possibly collapse. I painted her a cloudy eye to show blindness, the idea being to mimic the symbol of justice, and to show that we should never see color on a person as a way of determining who they are as individuals.



COMMUNICATION:THE CORNERSTONE OF 21ST-CENTURY SKILLS

By Robert Movradinov, Director of Communication

ROBERT MOVRADINOV, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATION

Educators often speak of the innovation and collaboration, problem solving and other “21st-century” skills that we aim to foster. But seldom do we spotlight the one skill without which any of the others flourish: communication. Engaging in nuanced and, at times, difficult conver-

sation is vital if our students are to go into the world and tackle society’s problems.

French American considers critical thinking and com-munication across cultures of paramount importance. Going into 2015, our community was particularly jolted by disturbing news in both the U.S. and France. Stateside, the latter half of 2014 was filled with myriad accounts of police brutality, often ending in the death of African Americans. On January 7, the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo came under siege, killing 12 people. Our teachers, understanding the importance of address-ing these tragedies directly, gave students in grades 5-12 forums in which to process the events.

In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, teachers began a dialogue with 5th graders by viewing Secre-tary of State John Kerry’s expression of condolences to the French. As students weighed in, teachers made the distinction between extremists and Muslims at large. The conversation explored the freedoms of speech and expression, among les droits de l’homme, which the 5th grade had recently studied. Notwithstanding those rights, students observed, it is possible to hurt individu-als with particular statements or caricatures.

In the middle school, meanwhile, students assembled in mixed groups of 6th, 7th and 8th graders. A hand-ful of 10th graders served as mentors by discussing the significance of Je suis Charlie, Je suis Ahmed, and Je suis Juif (memes that became ubiquitous in social media after the attacks) and by inviting the younger students to illustrate the notions of tolerance and freedom of expression.

Responding to events in Ferguson, New York, Ohio and other parts of the U.S., our International High

School students held an assembly about race and social justice mid-January. They began by watching the video of Eric Garner’s death and by listening to an NPR interview of civil rights attorney Constance Rice, who worked to develop a partnership between the LAPD and the com-munities that it serves (to promote empathy). A set of communication guidelines framed the ensuing discus-sion to insure that all voices were honored.

Teachers and students of color spoke of transgressions minor and major—about fearing for their siblings every time they left home. Another student noted that her father, an African American police officer, faced difficul-ties navigating both sides of the tension. Some students discussed scientific studies on colorism, or how we respond with prejudice in a variety of situations. Others admitted also to feeling white privilege, or fear of those unlike themselves.

After the event, Alaezia Benjamin ‘16 noted, “Listening to each high school student’s voice made me realize that I am not the only one who feels so strongly about this is-sue. It felt reassuring to know that many students empa-thized with those who have been treated badly because of the color of their skin or the background they come from. I would suggest that we have many more panel discussions next year covering all aspects that impact our high school students. It was a great privilege to be a part of such a wonderful panel.”

Olivia Clopton-Foster ‘15 also noted, “I think it’s amaz-ing that we took this big step towards bettering our com-munity and communicating with one another.” Olivia’s point is well taken: authentic communication strength-ens communities. Indeed, the ability to think critically and to communicate across cultures is vital. As Head of School Melinda Bihn observes, “Putting those skills to use with a sense of agency in the world is our ultimate pursuit. At French American International School, we are confident that our students will rise to the occasion.”

This article appears in the summer edition of the NAIS Independent School magazine.

social justice



CELEBRATING THE VALUES OF TOLERANCE AND LIBERTY:

AN UNPRECEDENTED MOBILIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITYANTOINE DELAITRE, OUTGOING MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

Les 7, 8 et 9 janvier 2015, un triple attentat en région parisienne faisait 17 victimes, tués parce qu’ils étaient caricaturistes à Charlie Hebdo, policiers en uniforme, ou simplement parce qu’ils étaient juifs. Cet attentat aura principale-ment eu comme conséquence de fédérer

la conscience nationale autour de ses grands principes, et de conduire à une mobilisation sans précédent de la communauté internationale, notamment à travers des réseaux sociaux.

Le LIFA a immédiatement choisi d’interrompre le cours normal de la semaine au collège et au lycée, pour donner la parole aux élèves, et les faire prendre conscience des enjeux de cette attaque contre les valeurs démocratiques. Les enseignants ont largement présenté les événements en classe, et conduits les élèves à poser des questions, discuter ou analyser certaines caricatures publiées le jour même des attentats en solidarité avec les victimes de Charlie Hebdo. Quelques jours plus tard les élèves ont pu écouter le discours du Président de la République M. François Hollande, avant d’observer une minute de silence à la mémoire des victimes.

Les collégiens ont également participé à une assemblée exceptionnelle dédiée aux événements en question. Des lycéens de Seconde de la Section Française invités spécialement pour l’occasion ont expliqué aux collégiens le sens des expressions “Je suis Charlie”, “Je suis policier”, “Je suis Mohammed” ou “Je suis juif” parus sur les réseaux sociaux et dans le monde entier peu après les attentats, avant de partager avec eux certains de leurs dessins, illustrant leurs sentiments sur ces événements.

Les collégiens ont ensuite été invités à imaginer leurs propres couvertures de “Charlie Hebdo”, célébrant les valeurs de tolérance et de liberté, et à écrire des lettres adressées aux familles des victimes. Cette activité créative a permis à de nombreux élèves d’offrir des témoignages fins et touchants, soulignant l’émotion suscitée parmi notre communauté toute entière, ainsi que la solidarité de cette dernière avec la France dans ces heures douloureuses._______________________________________________

On January 7-9, 2015, three attacks in Paris claimed 17 lives, either because the individuals were cartoon-ists at Charlie Hebdo, uniformed police officers, or simply Jewish. The triple attack united the French national conscience around its founding principles and led to an unprecedented mobilization of the interna-tional community, notably via social media.

French American International School chose to im-mediately interrupt its standard schedule in the middle and high school in order to give voice to its students, and to make them aware of the attack’s stakes against democratic values. Teachers reviewed what took place in class, and encouraged students to ask questions, discuss or analyze cartoons published the day of the at-tack in solidarity with the victims from Charlie Hebdo. Several days later students listened to the speech given by President François Hollande, before observing a minute of silence in honor of the victims.

Middle school students also participated in a stand-alone assembly dedicated to the events in question. Tenth graders from the French section were invited to explain to their fellow students the significance of “Je suis Charlie,” “Je suis policier,” “Je suis Mohammed,” and “Je suis juif”—memes that appeared ubiquitously in social media and around the world shortly after the attacks. The sophomores further shared their own drawings, illustrating how they felt about the events.

Afterward, the students were asked to develop their own Charlie Hebdo covers celebrating the values of tolerance and liberty, and to write letters addressed to the families of the victims. This creative exercise enabled many students to offer nuanced and touching testimonies, underscoring the emotion elicited by our entire community, in solidarity with France during its time of need.



visual art

Visual Arts at International High School

College VisitsA series of visits by college representatives from the top art schools in the country and several international schools provided students with an opportunity to find out about different art programs, an overview of careers to pursue within the arts, and an opportunity to get one-on-one feedback on their portfolios. The visits consisted of a presentation about the school followed by one-on-one portfolio reviews. The one-on-one interview is also a great practice for the IB Art exam where students have a 30-minute discussion with a visiting examiner about the development of their portfolio over the prior two years.

March 27: IB Art ShowIB visual art students displayed a selection of portfolio pieces that they produced over the past two years. Ranging from photography and painting to sculpture and mixed media works, students’ projects highlighted diverse investiga-tions including: transparency, art and politics, dust, rope, and human expansionism.

International High School Art Teacher Eva Strohmeier offers an overview of the 2014-2015 IB Art Program

Art Showcase at the Asian Arts MuseumThe following students had their artwork on display at the Asian Arts Museum as part of the SFUSD Arts Festival, a celebration of student creativity in visual, literary, media and performing arts:

Noah DeWald, Grade 11 Sophia Vann-Adibe, Grade 11 Jack Bens, Grade 11 Lauren Jauffret, Grade 11 Claire Moazed, Grade 12 Will Brown, Grade 12 Noah Brown, Grade 12

Icons of Peace and Equality10th-grade students partici-pated in a global art project under the title “Icons of Peace and Equality” led by the Somervale School, near Bath in the UK. International High School students created this portrait of Harvey Milk using a collaborative grid system pro-cess to commemorate a key shift in gay rights and equality.



Exploring the Power of Books through Art9th-grade Visual Art students visually expressed the power of books in this project and answered the ques-tions: “What makes a book so powerful?” and “How do they empower our imagination?” Inspired by the works of Bulgarian artist Mladen Penev, students explored three different media of their choice to express the power of books.


College Acceptance HighlightAlix Vernet, a 12th-grade IB Visual Art student, was accepted to the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture program. She was selected from the largest college applicant pool in the nation—over 92,000 students applied to UCLA.


Art Project Sparks Conversation on Race and Civil RightsWhat started out as a grade 11 visual arts project turned into a thoughtful discussion on recent national events. “The lesson began with a video tutorial on how to mix skin tones, which made students aware of the complexity of skin tones in relationship to the use of color in painting,” says Art Teacher Eva Strohmeier. Students then prac-ticed mixing skin tones to match their skin color by painting on their hands.

While doing this exercise, students began discussing the recent protests about police violence and racial profil-ing. “This gave students the opportunity to express their feelings, thoughts and personal experiences in relation-ship to these recent events and allowed them to engage in a critical conversation about police brutality and racial profiling.” Once students found their matching skin tone, they painted square color swatches that were arranged into an abstract group portrait to show the racial diversity and unity of their class.

The project expanded into advisory and the other visual arts classes to include skin swatches from other students of our school community.


season2014-2015

artsABOVE: Winter Concert, January 21, 2015 | San Francisco Conservatory of Music


“Captain Schelle, Captain Exson” | Ansley Echols

performing arts


Fall Play: U.S. Premiere of Rezvani’s “Captain Schelle, Captain Exson”

For its Fall Play, our high school performing arts company, Back à Dos, was proud to present the US première of a wild, playful and thought-provoking work, written by French playwright, Serge Rezvani, translated by Eric Butler and directed by Franck Bessone. This cartoonish comedy was set on an oil tanker adrift at sea

because the Children of the Captains abandoned ship, destroying the machinery before departing. Those left behind include captains, wives, mistresses and servants, but also Crude Oil in the hold ready to revolt!

In his program notes, director Franck Bessone ex-plained that he was first motivated by “the desire to do a comedy. Thus, this play is, first and foremost, a big laugh.” However, he also explains, “Ultimately, it’s not just any kind of comedy, of course. It’s a dark com-edy. Or a tale, a modern tale, with the monsters and ghosts—money and power—that our civilization has created. Named after gas stations or oil companies, the play’s protagonists are just the greedy avatars of a flouted

democracy.” This motivated Bessone to ask the student costume designer, Alexa Joshua, to create costumes for the Crude Oil that, in his words, could “evoke diverse figures of domination and rebellion, not only the 18th Century slaves, as the play suggests, but also those of the Middle East, Cuba, the French Revolution.”

Bessone notes that at the end of the piece, “The hanged men are waking up and are ready to reciprocate the ‘justice’ they received; ‘Eye-for-an-Eye’ is the name of their leader.”

Winter Play: Student Directed One-Acts embrace mystery, horror, comedy and the absurd

For the Back à Dos winter show, the annual student-di-rected one-act play festival embraced six pieces directed by International High School seniors: Cléo Charpentier, Larson Holt, Rosalie Neal, William Ramstein, Abby Rochman, and Sylvie Sutton. These six directors oversaw an eclectic evening of new work, ranging from mystery to horror, from post-modern exploration to comedy, in myriad forms.

The pieces were as follows...

The 2014-2015 performing arts season roundup

“Captain Schelle, Captain Exson” | Robin Fierberg, Larson Holt

Philip Glass buys a Loaf of Breadby David IvesDirected by Sylvie Sutton

Philip Glass is one of the most famous minimalist contemporary composers. This show evokes the operatic style of his works and invites the audience to enter the labyrinth of Philip Glass’s subconscious as he has an existential crisis in a bakery. Reality is warped into the absurd and time will become a moment.

The Adventure of the Speckled Band: A Sherlock Holmes Mysteryby Arthur Conan DoyleDirected by Larson Holt Adapted by Larson Holt, using Glenn Carlson and Scot Crisp’s radio one-act

In a manor in the English countryside, the Hunter sisters are woken repeatedly in the middle of the night by a bizarre, low whistle. They think nothing of it. However, when one of them falls dead just after the noise, the other realizes that only one man will be able to piece everything together. Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

Controlling Interestsby Wagner Rawley Directed by William Ramstein

Has it ever appeared to you that adults are simply bigger, louder and more assertive versions of the once kiddos they used to be? Don’t adults still lie? Argue over rules? And, of course, fight over the coolest and biggest toys? Meet eight businessmen and women who, during a tense meeting, reveal their true and unchanged personalities.

The Madhouseby Jerrod BogardDirected by Rosalie Neal

America’s most famous horror novelist goes to an insane asylum for inspiration. Surrounded by peculiar patients in a hospital filled with creeps and crawlies, she encounters a doctor who believes he knows the cure to her writer’s block.

Inspired by Grand-Guignol and Artaud’s Theater of Cruelty, this play will make you question your sanity.

All The President’s Turdsby Bernard Scahill Directed by Cléo Charpentier

An incompetent president up for re-election, a looming terrorist threat, and an international coalition: it’s the beginning of a crisis in the War Room. Then arrives an unlikely ally with an even more surprising name who creates chaos while saving the day.

Political tensions and cultural differences lead to comedic confusion in the White House, while making us reflect on the nature of American politics—with some crude potty humor thrown in for good measure!

There shall be no bottom (a bad play for worse actors)by Mark O’Donnell Directed by Abby Rochman

This play is about what happens when we don’t prepare enough…or just forget everything. Everything in this drawing room melodrama, wanna-be Sherlock Holmes investigation goes terribly awry.


One-Act Plays, February 2015 | All the President’s Turds Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread

LA LETTRE JUNE 2015 | 83“Spamalot” | The Spring Musical, March 2015

Spring Musical: Spamalot

Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot retold the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the very very Round Table. This joyful production featured a 13-piece orchestra under the musical direction of our new upper school music teacher, Phillip Lenberg, extravagant song and dance numbers and, of course, two hours of jokes, parody and pure fun. Director Brad Cooreman not only led this wonderful musical romp, but also oversaw creation of an ambitious set (a castle with tower and turrets). The gazillion costumes were designed by Martha Stookey, in collaboration with senior, Cléo Charpentier.

French American and International Welcome Two New Members to the Music Faculty

This year the Upper School welcomed two new faculty members to the Arts Department teaching staff, who as-sumed the reins of the school’s Music Program.

Phillip Lenberg has enjoyed a successful career as a classical guitarist and conductor. He has served as Apprentice Conductor for the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Assistant Conductor for the Henderson Symphony in Ne-vada, and an instructor in conducting at the University of Nevada. Phillip received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting at the University of Nevada, and studied classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and SUNY Stony Brook in New York.

Melinda Becker received her Master of Arts in Interdis-ciplinary Education at Santa Clara University, a Master of Music in vocal performance at the San Francisco Conservatory, and has studied in the Cycle de Spécialisa-tion Chant program at the Conservatoire of Strasbourg. She has sung as a guest artist at Opera San Jose, served

Spring Concert, May 15, 2015 | Guitar EnsembleSpring Concert | Isabella Cooreman


as an adjunct professor of music at Marymont Califor-nia University, and taught voice at Inspire Music in San Francisco.

One of Mr. Lenberg’s most notable initiatives has been the creation of several grade-level “Guitar Ensembles” that incorporate as many as 15 or 20 students per ensemble. The beauty of this approach is that it allows virtually any student to participate in music-making, no matter what skill level they’re at. The program teaches students basic instrumental skills, as well as how to work collaboratively.

The January Winter Concert, presented at the San Fran-cisco Conservatory of Music, was the first official show-case for the new guitar ensembles. Performing unique arrangements of classical works, and popular pieces arranged by Mr. Lenberg, the various ensembles were notable for their precision and discipline, and a remark-able level of engagement with the material. The formal setting of the Conservatory auditorium lent a sense of oc-casion to the evening, and our student performers more than rose to the challenge. Amongst various outstanding solo moments was a stunning performance by 9th grader Justin Melville of the notoriously difficult classical guitar showpiece, Koyunbaba, by Carlo Domeniconi.

The Spring Concert was presented on May 15 as part of the two-week Arts Festival that closes the school year. Held in the school gymnasium, the informal atmosphere was matched by the program, where the students per-formed favorite pieces of their own choosing. Even the guitar ensembles got into the spirit with a memorable performance of Mr. Lenberg’s elegant (but subversively witty) arrangement of the T. Rex glam-rock classic Bang a Gong. Other highlights included a lovely modern dance solo by Isabella Cooreman, and a puckish love duet from Lakmé by Gwyneth and Tess Luhmann, accompanied on piano by 11th grader Thibault Irissou.

BRAD COOREMAN, THEATER

From May 6-9, nineteen Middle School students travelled with Franck Bessone and me to the Dallas Multilingual Theatre Festival hosted by the Dallas International School. We had been working on a remount of the production of Liberté ou la mort: The Story of Toussaint L’ouverture and the Haitian Revolution, an orig-

inal play developed by the eighth-grade class of 2014 through a multidisciplinary project that involved His-toire/Géographie, French, English, and Theater classes. After the success of last year’s show I was approached by then Middle School Principal, Mireille Rabaté, to consider taking this show to the Dallas Festival. After Mireille’s departure to London in November, current Middle School Principal, Antoine Delaitre, continued with the same enthusiastic support. In March of this year we began our rehearsals with a new group of very talented and dedicated students.

Prior to leaving for the festival we performed twice: once as a sneak preview for families and friends of stu-dents in the show, and then a second time at the Middle School Arts Evening. But the big show, the one we were gearing up for, would take place in Dallas.

Other schools participating in this year’s festival were the French American School of San Diego, the Russian School of Dallas, and, of course, the Dallas International School. We performed to a full house of students and teachers from these schools and I have to say, this was the best performance yet. Our students were focused, engaging and didn’t skip a beat. I was very proud of them. The audience loved the show, and left chanting “liberté ou la mort!” after the final bow.

But the festival was not only about taking a perfor-mance to Dallas. There were also a number of physical theatre workshops that were organized by the festival as well. These were great. We participated in workshops for stage combat, circus arts, clowning, and mime. It was wonderful to watch the students not only bond with each other, but also make many new friends from differ-ent schools. Each workshop had great moments but the stage combat workshop (where they were taught how to hit, choke, and kick each other) resulted in some very entertaining video footage.

After our return to San Francisco I met with the stu-dents one last time to talk about the trip and ask them what did they liked or disliked about the experience. Their answers were simple, but very telling. What did they like? “Everything." What did they dislike? “Noth-ing," they told me. “We want more!“ In short, a great time was had by all.

There are many people to thank: the parents for their support, the Dallas International School for creating the event, Franck Bessone for chaperoning and working with me on the show, Mireille Rabaté and Antoine Delaitre for input and support, Raquel Constenla for much travel-ing advice, Jeff François, Dan Harder, Kathy Halter, and Catherine Santos de Silva for taking time in their classes to work on the development of the script, and Mouna Harifi who came up with the idea in the first place.

The historical pertinence of our students’ work was evident just days after their Dallas visit, when François Hollande became the first French President to make a formal visit to Haiti. During his visit, Hollande stated, “There is a moral debt that exists” with Haiti, once France's most profitable colony.

Middle School Thespians Participate in the Dallas Multilingual Theatre Festival


The opportunity to represent the red and blue in the athletic arena requires determination, dedication and discipline. It is a challenging task that demands the successful manage-ment of time and effort between academic pursuits and athletic responsibilities. The Athletic Department takes great pride in the accomplishments and efforts of our student-

athletes. During the 2014-15 season, Jaguars saw a wide range of success, as student-athletes gave their all in team and individual sports, earning the respect of com-petitors and spectators alike.

Student-athletes on Jaguar athletic teams made up 65% of the 5-12th grade student body during the 2014-15 academic year. For the second consecutive year, we have seen a growth in participation, and in the number

of teams and levels being offered. This year 73% of the 5th graders, 63% of the 6-8th graders and 54% of the 9-12th graders played at least one sport for our school.

As we continue to lay the foundation for a vertically aligned program, this year we will celebrate all of our teams by program.

Cross CountryRun Jags, run! The Cross Country program, from grades

5 to 12, continued to see growth in participation. The Boys and Girls Cross Country team showed great dedi-cation and improvement all season, which culminated at League Finals. Our runners earned a top three finish on the Boys side and placed fourth overall for the Girls in the BAIAL Championship.

athletics

Jaguar Nation: The Year in Review


Win, lose or draw, we are proud of our student-athletes, and greatly appreciate their efforts to represent our community with pride and integrity.


Our High School Cross Country team, at 27 runners, is the largest roster we have ever fielded! The team was comprised of experienced returners and talented begin-ners. Throughout the season new personal records were achieved and senior Itai Levin made school history by setting a new record for the 5k, beating out Ben Rainero ’11 by 3 seconds. Additionally, 13 of our Cross Country runners represented the school at North Coast Section Championships, the most in recent history.

SoccerUnder the new leadership of Director of Soccer, Ro-

land Tillack, the soccer program implemented a new sys-tem of play that was uniformed from 5-12th grade. The primary goal was to lay the foundation for each team to play possession-based soccer at all levels.

Starting in the fall with 5-8th grade boys soccer, there was immediate improvement in the organization and performance. This resulted in our Boys Varsity team advancing to the BAIAL semi-finals, and losing a heart-breaking overtime game to Town School.

At the high school level, the JV team improved tremen-dously throughout the season. Their hard work and dedi-cation paid off, evidenced by a 1st place finish at the JV Jamboree. The Men’s Varsity soccer team had a very successful year, despite their league record. The win/loss record does not reveal that the majority of games were hard fought. The Jaguars dominated possession and were

frequently first to shoot on goal. The 2014 squad will be best remembered as a group of young men who were asked to absorb loads of new soccer information, both technically and tactically, within a short period of time.

Our women players kicked off their season in the win-ter and spring. Our student-athletes were the beneficia-ries of Coach Roland’s new style of play. Our 5-6th grade soccer team nearly qualified for BAIAL playoffs, but were edged out in point totals. This would have been a first in school history. During the spring season, both the 5-8th and high school programs showed great promise, and actively competed for playoff spots.

VolleyballJaguar volleyball continues to establish itself as a repu-

table program for San Francisco independent schools. Our coach and student-athletes took much pride in the fact that across all levels, from 5-12th grade, all players were able to serve overhand by the end of the season. At the middle school level each of our teams was highly competitive in their divisions with most teams compet-ing in CYO Playoffs and the Girls Varsity team advancing to the BAIAL semi-finals.

Our high school JV Volleyball team experienced tre-mendous growth by the end of the season; all the girls’ skills had improved, and every player could pass to a target and serve over the net. The Women’s Varsity Vol-leyball team kicked off with a fabulous team retreat in



Bodega Bay. The chemistry built there helped to main-tain team unity on and off the court. Season highlights included big upsets to league rivals Convent and Lick-Wilmerding. The future of Jaguar Volleyball is bright!

BasketballThroughout the winter season, basketballs could be

heard bouncing from 6:30am to 9pm over in the Jag Den and on the outdoor basketball courts. This year the 5-12th grade basketball program had 124 participants, a slight dip from last year, though the effort and intensity displayed by all of our teams was excellent.

In the winter, the 6-8th grade girls Varsity and JV teams fought hard in every game, but fell short of clinching a playoff position this year. Two of our five Boys on the 5-8th grade basketball teams captured CYO Champion-ships, Boys Varsity Red and Boys JV. The Boys and Girls look forward to working hard in the off season and com-ing back next year stronger than ever.

The high school basketball programs had a very com-petitive start to the preseason, and both the Men’s and Women’s Varsity teams played well in holiday tourna-ments. The BCL-West has several of the top Division V programs in the North Coast Section, and while the Jags did not experience the results they desired, their hustle and effort were respected by all opponents.

Both programs will return the majority of their rosters, and with the steady improvement from the Men’s JV and

Varsity teams, our athletes should be contenders for their first league victory next year.

TennisThe high school tennis program has experienced a

resurgence in participation this year, making it possible for the Men’s program to have a JV team. The Men’s Ten-nis program is off to one of its best starts in recent years. Currently, the team is 3-1 in league and vying for their first league championship.

The Women’s Tennis team also experienced growth this season, which will probably lead to a JV team being offered next year for the first time in school history. With a great attitude and strong work ethic, the girls earned a 5th seed in playoffs. They ultimately fell to Urban in a hard-fought battle, but made it to the North Coast Sec-tion playoffs for the first time in school history.

SailingSailing is the newest sport to join the roster of Inter-

national High School’s competitive athletics teams. This past season our team’s regattas showcased our new and experienced sailors, who proved they can compete with some of the best teams in Northern California. Our team is taking NorCal sailing by storm, and is currently ranked in the top 10 as the Jags continue to make their presence known on the water.


90 | LA LETTRE JUNE 201590 | LA LETTRE JUNE 201490 | LA LETTRE JUNE 2015


BaseballOn the heels of the Giants winning their third World

Series title, Jaguar baseball interest has blossomed. It has been over eight years since we have fielded a 5-8th grade baseball team. This year we have Bronco and Pony baseball teams, comprised of thirty-one 5th to 8th grad-ers. There is a great deal of talent and potential develop-ing in the baseball program, and we are excited to build on the success of our first season back.

Our high school Men’s Baseball program returned the majority of its roster and added some new players with experience and potential. The Jags started the season off strong, winning their first two games of the year, and although they ultimately did not make the cut, the men battled impressively all season in hopes of clinching a playoff spot in the BCL-West.

BadmintonOur high school Badminton team has a different

look this year, as the Jags are under new leadership, PE teacher Julien Doulen. This is a mixed-level team, com-prised of some of our reigning champs as well as some novices. The intensity and fun was felt at every match. Although they did not make the team playoffs this year, The Jags are looking to bring the banner back to the Jag Den next spring.

Track and FieldSeven years ago the high school track and field team

had two members. In 2015 we had a program of 29 student-athletes. This is a highly dedicated group of runners, which were led by an outstanding group of

seniors and a talented crop of underclassmen. The Jags remained focused on competing hard as they closed out the spring season, and peaking as they headed into the BCL Championships. Three of our student-athletes made it to the North Coast Section Meet of Champions.

SwimmingThe past few months have been a tremendous success

for our swim team, and there were several highlights, great achievements and team bonding.

International High School Alumnus, Sieva Kozinsky, re-turned for his second season as our swim coach. Under the leadership of Sieva and fellow coach Allen Walker, our strong roster of 23 young men and women recorded several Personal Records. Most times were set at the pinnacle moment of the season—the Bay Area Confer-ence Championship Meet—where we had six 6th-place finishers and one 7th-placer.

The biggest highlight for many of our swimmers was the traditional season-ending “shave party," where the team meets at a family’s home, carb loads, and shaves in the hopes to also “shave” some seconds off of personal records.

Our coaches salute each swimmer on his or her dedi-cation and improvement over the season.________________________________________________

Win, lose or draw, we are proud of our student-ath-letes, and greatly appreciate their efforts to represent our community with pride and integrity. We want to thank each of them for their commitment to competition while managing the demands of our rigorous bilingual educa-tion. They have all chosen a challenging road, one that will well prepare them for what lies ahead.



A Tale of Two Jaguars

alumni athletes

Going into the 2009-10 basketball season, Lillian Jahan ‘10 and Emilia Omerberg ‘13 met on what outgoing Athletics Director Charlene Murphy has affectionately called our very own Bad News Bears basketball team. As fate would have it, both alumnae not only went on to study at Oberlin, but also play the same two sports: Divi-

sion III basketball and soccer. Upon arriving at Oberlin, Lil-lian played basketball, then soccer, while Emilia began with soccer and added basketball. Emilia also picked up #32, the number that had once belonged to Lillian. Below, they shed some light on their fortuitous trajectory.

Explain the history of your athletic experience at International.

Lillian: During my time at International, I got to work with some incredible coaches and athletic directors who in-grained in me the importance of hard work and commit-ment. Whether on the court or field, in the weight room or in the classroom, it was clear to me that above anything else, giving your absolute all is the most important thing. I was awful when I first started... I didn’t even know I had a left hand! I tried out for basketball as a freshman, show-ing up to that first day in sambas (indoor soccer shoes) and soccer shorts. I started to love basketball because I thought it was fun, I loved my team and respected my coach. I brought a different kind of grit to the team: I would run through walls for steals, get on the floor for loose balls and loved defense. Midway through my junior year, Charlene Murphy became our coach. I started really understanding the game of basket-ball on both ends of the court, and she completely changed my life when she asked if I had ever thought about playing in college. Charlene told me if I put in the work, I could most likely find a Division III school to recruit me - so I took her up on her offer and as soon as the season ended started doing 6am workouts with her, every day before class. I spent every second that I wasn’t in class watching or playing basketball trying to learn the game. My senior season was a

unique experience. It was mind-blowing to show up to the gym, ready to take on what should have been the most competitive season of my career, and hav-ing a total of four girls, including myself, show up to the first day of tryouts. That senior season was not about wins or losses, but rather my ability to be a leader, to teach these girls how to work and love this sport. It was the most beneficial season to my growth as a player because of the amount of responsibility I had as the sole returner, the sole senior and the sole experienced player.

Emilia: We won our first game by forfeit, and it was the best moment. We played Convent and were destroyed, but at that point I had a career high of 13 points, so it was worth it! Our goal was to score 30 points every game, and I think that pretty much says it all as just the next year we jumped our total goal to 60 a game. Soccer was a different story--almost reverse. I came into a program that was already very good and we won the league three years in a row.

What memories do you have of that year that you played together? Did a bond develop between you as players?

Lillian: Emilia and I initially met because I was a Peer Counselor and she was one of my mentees. We immediately hit it off, so when she was one of the three other girls to show up at tryouts, I was relieved to at least know one of my new teammates. Emilia and I definitely developed a bond off the court through the mentorship program, but we also had a bond on the court. Like me, Emilia is not afraid to get physical, to throw herself on the floor for loose balls and just to play all out, so she was the team-mate to push me during practice. One of my favorite memories of that season took place after I broke my nose in a game against Bay and had to miss a few games. Watching Emilia step up and lead on

“It’s a lot of time commitment outside of the schoolwork, but if you’re willing to put the effort in, you get a lot out of it. In the case of my daughter Isabella, she’s played a varsity sport every season. To be able to spend her years not only doing well in academics, but also participating in athletics and taking on expanded leadership roles, is a big part of her growth as a person.”

young shin board of trustees

the court as a freshman was incredible, and made me really proud as both her teammate and captain. When she chose Oberlin I was extremely excited to get to play soccer with her again!

Emilia: I always wanted to work my hardest and do my best for her because I wanted her senior year to be the best it could be. I asked her opinion when applying to college, and Lillian helped introduce me to the soccer coaches when I visited Oberlin. She was there the first day I arrived on campus.

What habits did you pick up at International Athletics in order to become two-sport athletes at Oberlin?

Lillian: Being at a school like International where aca-demics are no piece of cake, I had to figure out time management from day one, which enabled me to be a two-sport athlete at Oberlin. In college, you don’t just have practice and games; you also have weightlifting, conditioning, game film, game prep/recap, team/individ-ual meetings, training room, and the list goes on. Having to balance all that, crazy course loads, and being part of daily Oberlin student life was almost second nature to me after being a student-athlete at International.

Emilia: Charlene Murphy was integral in shaping me into the person and player I am today. Charlene knew how to motivate me to do my best and draw out skill and effort I didn’t know I had. She led the women’s basketball team to places we never dreamed it would go, touching all

of our lives. Charlene taught me to persevere and prove everyone wrong when they doubted my ability. I use this still everyday on the court and on the field and probably most important of all in the classroom and in everyday life.

What motivates you?

Lillian: Wanting to be the best motivates me. I may not be the fastest or the strongest or the most skilled, but I will not let you outwork me. I apply that mindset to all aspects of my life—basketball, soccer, my job and education.

Emilia: Injustice motivates me. When something isn’t fair or people don’t think I can do something, I love to prove people wrong. I love to play for a crowd. This season we had a winning streak that was unheard of—ten in a row. We had the stadium packed and it was so amazing to see people in the halls say, “Nice game,” or ask when our next one was.

What do you aspire to do now?

Lillian: Since graduating from Oberlin in May 2014, I have been doing Public Health research with UCSF at the San Francisco VA Hospital and at San Francisco General Hospital on Advance Care Planning in Vulnerable Populations. When I am not at work, I am still training and playing basketball in hopes of getting a contract to play basketball overseas!


Lillian Jahan, Oberlin Women’s Basketball vs. Wooster, January 2014 Emilia Omerberg ‘13, Oberlin Women’s Basketball


A Lifelong Learning CommunitySenior Larson Holt reflects on the enormous impact the faculty have had on the graduating class of 2015.

As a student at International, it might be selfish to state that one of the most special things about this school is the student body. Of course, much thought goes into the admissions process to ensure that each class turns out to be a diverse, glob-

ally-minded group of individuals who desire knowledge, like us. But as we graduate from this school where some of us have spent 13 or 14 years of our lives, we begin to reflect on how we got there.

For me, this always has been and always will be, by way of the incredible faculty whom we trust with our education—our future. We all owe them a great deal for the gifts of knowledge, understanding and pride they’ve given us—yet we will also harbor some form of resentment knowing that they’ve spoiled us into wrongly assuming that our professors in college will give us the same individual thought and attention.

The diverse field of teachers International has recruited are incredible thinkers who day in and day out demon-strate not only their deep passions about their teaching subjects, but also that they have never stopped learning and are always open to new ideas and interpretations of ideas other schools might find rigid.

Even more unique to International, every teacher I’ve ever had has taken the time and energy to know each one of us individually—even in 23-person IB

Geography—and respond to our individual learning styles and interests. This has been of incredible ben-efit to us as students, as our teachers have become our role models. Over the last four or fourteen years, we’ve learned perseverance, discipline, time management and respect. We’ve also learned to take the time to get to know each other just as our teachers have for us.

Their support and words of encouragement have also helped us put together many student-driven projects, such as the One-Acts, IB Art Show, the forthcoming Global Issues Network conference, and the visionary TEDx event. As one might expect, they’re also very valu-able advisors in the classroom, especially with our IB Internal Assessments and Extended Essays, where they spend dozens of hours with us after school helping to craft our ideas into academic proposals. In my case, my advisor, John Bray, worked painstakingly with me to turn my idea for a new express bus service into a research paper that has been submitted to the SFMTA for consid-eration.

In a sense, we students stand to take a lot of credit for our successes at International. That said, credit where credit’s due, our special achievements rest on the shoul-ders of giants - of our even more special faculty who are our research partners, our trusted advisors, our role models, our strong supporters, and in some cases, now our Facebook friends.

senior reflection

Experience the world.ABOVE: Members of the Class of 2015 gather outside Nourse Auditorium before this year’s

International High School Commencement Ceremony, June 5, 2015

www.frenchamericansf.org

la lettre june 2015

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